Tiger Deaths in India Increase by 25% in 2016

Tiger deaths have registered an increase of 25 per cent this year, with the toll recorded at 98 compared to last year’s 78. The data was shared by India’s Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha. The figure includes deaths due to natural causes and poaching, besides cases where the cause is unclear and under investigation.

Instances of poaching have doubled as compared to the previous year. 29 cases of poaching have been recorded till November, while last year a total of 14 cases were registered. According to the reply in Parliament, all tiger ranges barring Jharkhand have shown the tiger population either increasing or remaining stable.

Jharkhand’s tiger population, however, has gone down from 10 to 3. The total number of tigers across 44 tiger reserves is at 1,586. The top five reserves in terms of tiger population are Jim Corbett (261 tigers), Bandipur (134 tigers), Kaziranga (115 tigers), Nagarahole (113 tigers), Kanha (90) tigers.

Commenting on the latest announcement TigerTime said: Counting tigers is a difficult science. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) claimed an increase in India’s tiger from 1,411 in 2006 to the much heralded number of 2,226 in 2014. With tiger deaths increasing by 25% this year the margins between extinction and survival remain finely balanced for wild tigers and it is vital that we continue our work to protect tigers and their habitats across all tiger range states and maintain our call to end the trade in tiger parts from all sources.