M.P. lost 26 tigers in 2020, say national conservation data

Madhya Pradesh, known as the ‘tiger state’ of India, has lost 26 striped animals so far this year, as per the National Tiger Conservation Authority.

M.P. Forest Minister Vijay Shah said average death rate of tigers was less compared to their birth rate in the State in last six years.

According to the National Tiger Conservation Authority’s website, out of the 26 deaths reported since April this year, M.P. lost 21 felines inside the tiger reserves, including 10 in the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve. No tiger death was reported in the first three months of this year, as per the data. In 2019, the State lost 28 tigers while three cases of seizures of body parts due to poaching were also reported. Karnataka, which is on the second position in the number of tigers in the country, registered eight deaths and two seizures of tiger body parts this year. The State lost 12 big cats last year. “M.P. has 124 tiger cubs. The cubs were not counted during the last census. In the next count, we are going to have more than 600 tigers,” Mr. Shah said.