NB Explains | What is happening in Nilgiri district? Govt to probe mysterious deaths of 10 tigers in Tamil Nadu
The alarming series of tiger fatalities began on August 16 with the reports of the death of two tiger cubs in the Sigur region.
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In a shocking development 10 tigers, including six tiger cubs, have died in the last 40 days in the Nilgiri district alone, as per officials. The National Tiger Commission team visited the Nilgiri district for investigation on Monday (September 25).
The investigative team comprises Inspector General (IG) Murali Kumar, Central Wildlife Crime Branch South Zone Director Kiruba Shankar, and Central Wildlife Research Centre Scientist Ramesh Krishnamurthy.
Their primary mission is to unravel the mystery surrounding these tiger deaths and ascertain the causes. The alarming series of tiger fatalities began on August 16 with the reports of the death of two tiger cubs in the Sigur region. This was followed by another tiger fatality in Naduvattam on August 17 and yet another in Mudumalai on August 31.
In addition, two tigers were found to have been killed using poisoned meat in Avalanche on September 9. The month of September witnessed the demise of four tiger cubs between September 17 and 19 in Cunnoor.
One aspect of these incidents that has raised concerns among environmentalists is the absence of two tigresses.
A tigress will not leave her cubs unattended for a distance exceeding 200 meters. The unexplained absence of these two tigresses has led to questions about whether their whereabouts could be linked to the untimely deaths of the tiger cubs
According to the data released by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCR), as many as 145 tigers have been reported dead across the country so far this year, with the death of a male adult tiger at Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh on September 20 being the most recent.
Some 34 out of 145 tigers have died in Madhya Pradesh in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, Kanha Tiger Reserve and Panna Tiger Reserve; 31 have died in Maharashtra, 16 in Uttarakhand, and the remaining deaths took place in the states of Karnataka, Kerala, Assam, Chhattisgarh and Bihar.
2023 has witnessed the highest trend of tiger mortality in India since 2012. Take a look at the graphical representation of the tigers' deaths year-wise recorded for the period 2012–2023 given below:
