30 tigers die in 2 months; officials say no cause for alarm

30 tigers die in 2 months; officials say no cause for alarm

Subject: Environment

Section: Species in news

Context: Nearly two months into 2023, India has already recorded 30 tiger deaths. The number, however, is not a cause for alarm, according to officials at National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), as tiger deaths usually spike between January and March.

More on the News:

• Tiger deaths have so far been reported from Kanha, Panna, Ranthambore, Pench, Corbett, Satpura, Orang, Kaziranga and Sathyamangalam reserves. Of the 30 deaths, 16 have been reported outside the reserves.
• The reason why tiger deaths are higher in these two states (MP and Maharashtra) is because they have a healthy tiger population.
• With an increase in tiger population, there will naturally be an increase in the number of deaths.
• From NTCA’s data the highest number of tiger deaths takes place between January and March in any given year. This is the time that they leave their territories and venture out, so there is conflict between tiger There are territorial conflicts among the tigers as well. With a healthy tiger population in the country, 200 Tiger deaths annually is not untoward
• The issue is not of tigers dying, they will die like any other animal. But increase in poaching is a matter of concern. The tiger death (this year) in Sathyamangalam reserve is, a case of poaching by the Bawariya poachers.

Status of Tiger Report:

• Tigers were observed to be increasing at a rate of 6 per cent per annum in India from 2006 to 2018.
• There were nine tiger reserves when Project Tiger started in 1973. Now, India has 53 tiger reserves. Seventy per cent of the world’s tigers are in India and the conservation effort has been a huge success.
• While tiger populations remain stable in the country, the report warns that with the populations being confined to small Protected Areas, some of which have habitat corridors that permit tiger movement between them, “most of the corridor habitats in India are not protected areas, and are degrading due to unsustainable human use and developmental projects”.
• Tiger occupancy has increased in Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. The former also registered a substantial increase in tiger population, and along with Karnataka, ranks highest in tiger numbers.
• The Northeast has, meanwhile, suffered losses in population.
• The population in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha too have seen a decline in the number of tigers
• The largest contiguous tiger population in the world of about 724 tigers was found in the Western Ghats (Nagarhole-Bandipur-Wayanad-Mudumalai- Satyamangalam-BRT block.

More details about Tiger https://optimizeias.com/royal-bengal-tiger-count-rises-to-75-in-andhra-pradesh/