On an average, the country has lost 10 tigers a month beginning this year with a total 51 big cats reported to be killed in territorial fight, poaching or electrocution in the first five months, till May 29, 2019. This is half of the total 102 big cats that were killed in 2018. At least six cases of seizure of tiger parts were also reported across the country.

According to the data available from Tigernet, a data base of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), Madhya Pradesh, topped the list with 18 tiger deaths in the first five months between January 2019 to May 2019 followed by Maharashtra where eight big cats succumbed to various reasons including poaching and infighting.

Last year too, Madhya Pradesh held the dubious distinction of reporting highest number of tigers’ deaths with Maharashtra ranking second.

In 80 per cent mortalities, the cause of death has remained uncertain so far with NTCA officials still investigating the cases, said the sources in the top tiger conservation body.

As 18 striped royal cats were found dead outside their habitats, the officials have not ruled out death due to poaching or electrocution by the villagers or by those living on the fringes of the forests who come in direct conflict with the predators.

There were cases of territorial fights too. For instance, a tigress, aged three to four years, died in Corbett Tiger Reserve’s Dhela zone on May 27, 2019 during infighting with another tiger. The tigress had been moving near human habitations since May 23. The tigress had succumbed to its injuries. Its post mortem is being conducted which will give a detailed account of the exact cause of its death, said the sources.

This was the second tiger death in Corbett landscape this month and third this year. On May 3, carcass of a male adult tiger was found in Corbett’s Bijrani zone; forest officials said it died due to injuries received in infighting with another male tiger.

In January this year carcass of a tiger was found in Corbett under a culvert in Ringoda stream. In February, the carcass of a tigress was found in the forests of Terai Central forest division in Nainital, with officials saying the tigress died of old age or from some ailment.

In a rare instance of cannibalism between big cats, an adult tigress was killed and eaten by a tiger in Kanha National Park of Madhya Pradesh in January, this year. The management of the park had said that it was a case of territorial dispute.

During the year, 6 cases of seizure of tiger body parts including skin were registered. While two cases of tiger parts seizure each were reported from Madhya Pradesh and Telengana, one case was from Maharashtra.