UP records 3 out of 115 tiger deaths across country in 2022

BAREILLY: Uttar Pradesh has recorded the lowest number of tiger deaths due to natural reasons since 2012. The number dipped from nine in 2021 to three in 2022, according to data from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
A total of 115 tiger fatalities were reported till December 30 this year from across the country compared to 127 deaths last year. Madhya Pradesh, which has the highest number of tiger population among all states at over 500, recorded 34 tiger mortalities, followed by Maharashtra (22), as per the data.
Meanwhile, the man-tiger conflict cases remained high in UP with nearly a dozen human casualties reported this year. Consequently, the forest department had to tranquillise three tigers straying near human habitat near Dudhwa Tiger Reserve.
Principal chief conservator of forest (project tiger) in UP, Sunil Chaudhary, told TOI, “Such a decline in number is a matter of concern. A mechanism needs to be devised to locate and identify tigers that have died inside the forest area so that we are in a position to evaluate the actual number of deaths and their causes. The officials should also analyse data from M-STrIPES — a GPS-based app that tiger reserves all over the country use for varied purposes including issuing SOS alerts during patrolling — to check for the number of tigers that have attained the age of 12. Besides, the concerned forest rangers should keep a track of ageing tigers. If the sighting of big cats stops for a significant period of time, then the officials should conduct intensive patrolling to gather information.”
Chaudhary added, “The decline in vulture population has also made it difficult to report the exact number of animal deaths inside dense forest areas,.”