As many as 122 tigers died of various reasons across the country in 2016, with 32 of the fatalities occurring in Madhya Pradesh, the Rajya Sabha was informed today. The death of these big cats were attributed to factors like, disease, infighting, natural death and poaching, among other causes, Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Mahesh Sharma said in a written reply to a question. According to the data shared by the minister in his reply, 81 tigers had died in the year 2015 and 79 in 2014. In the year 2016, as many as 17 tigers died of various reasons in Karnataka and Maharashtra, and 14 in Uttarakhand, among other states, it said. According to the state-wise details shared on elephants, 60 of them died in the year 2016-17, as many as 62 in 2015-16 and 80 in 2014-15. On the question of the number of leopards killed during the last three years, he said, the cases of death of wild animals, including leopards, have come to the notice of the ministry. "Information on the death of wild animals in the states/union territories is not collated in the ministry," Sharma said, and shared the state-wise details of the death of tigers and elephants, as available with the ministry.
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