Madhya Pradesh: Two more tigers die in ‘Tiger State’ forest; No poaching and no food-poisoning, reveals post mortem

Madhya Pradesh: Two more tigers die in ‘Tiger State’ forest; No poaching and no food-poisoning, reveals post mortem

3 for 10: In a month's time, Big Cats' toll worrisome

Tina KhatriUpdated: Tuesday, May 05, 2020, 11:48 PM IST
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Representative pic | ANI

Indore: As if the corona virus toll and the situation in the state due to the menace was not enough for the administration to have sleepless nights. To make matters worse, two more tigers lost their lives in Madhya Pradesh in the last week, bringing the numbers of tigers losing their lives to 10. These 10 tigers have died in the state in 33 days, i.e. during the lockdown. The reason behind sudden surge in tiger deaths has not been determined.

The forest cover of Madhya Pradesh is 77,482.49 square km, which is 25.14 per cent of the state's total geographical area, central government report has said. MP had bagged its title of being the ‘Tiger State’ in 2018 survey. However, with the sudden deaths of tigers in state, it is becoming a worrisome situation.

Tiger 10: Cub found in Panna National Park

Latest tiger carcass was found in Panna National Park, which has not been taken on record yet. As per sources, it was found on Sunday.

Forest officials patrolling in Gehri Ghath were shocked to find a deteriorating carcass of a tiger in bushes.

The carcass was 6 days old. As identified it was a cub’s carcass. As per initial investigations it was found to be 1.5 year old. The carcass was cremated after possible investigations and post mortem.

Tiger 9: Cub found in Bandhavgarh

An eight-month-old tiger was found dead at Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve Umaria district on Saturday. This is the third tiger death reported from the facility in a month's time. It was the ninth reported death.

Forest officials patrolling in the area found the wildcat’s carcass in Khitauli forest area on Saturday morning, as reported by reserve's officiating deputy director Anil Shukla.

The circumstantial evidence suggests that the tiger may have been killed by an adult big cat on Friday night.

Earlier on April 22, a 10-year-old big cat was found dead with injuries marks in Bandhavgarh’s Panpatha buffer range, while the carcass of a four-month-old tiger was found in Khitauli range on April 9.

Sudden deaths surge, positive as no signs of poisoning

Though it is normal for tigers to die every year, but this year, all the reported tiger deaths are in April till date. From January to March 2020, there were no deaths of tigers reported in the state.

A fear lingers about coronavirus or a disease taking a toll on tiger population in state. However, the forest department is still at ease as there were 13 tiger deaths reported till April last year.

“Last year, the deaths were distributed in different areas and time, so it did not seem much, but this time, tigers losing their life in the same month has created a little panic,” principal chief conservator of forest (PCCF) (wildlife) Rajesh Srivastava said. He added that the department is keeping calm due to comparative figures.

“The post mortem of tigers, who recently lost their lives, did not show poisoning or signs of poaching, so we are at ease,” Srivasatava said. The department feared the risk of poisoning as human-animal conflict is on the rise during lockdown.

“As it appears that most reported deaths are due to natural causes, we can accept the numbers as ‘survival of the fittest’ as of now,” Srivasatava said. However, staying on guard, the forest department is awaiting post mortem for the carcass of a tiger found at Bandhavgarh on last Saturday.

* 10 tigers have died in the state in 33 days

* The reason behind sudden surge in tiger deaths has not been determined

* The forest cover of MP is 77,482.49 square km, which is 25.14 per cent of the state's total geographical area

* MP had bagged its title of being the ‘Tiger State’ in 2018 survey

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