As many as 13 tigers have died in the past one year due to poisoning and electrocution, besides other reasons, in two national parks of Madhya Pradesh. Replying to an RTI, the State forest department said nine tigers have died in Pench national park known as home to 'Mowgli', a fictional character and protagonist in English writer Rudyard Kipling's 'The Jungle Book,' whereas four died in Bandhavgarh national park.
Wildlife activist Ajay Dubey who has filed a public interest litigation in the Madhya Pradesh High Court seeking a probe in tiger poaching cases in the State's national parks, sought details of death of the big cats in various national parks during the last one year.
The reasons given by the forest department for tigers' death included poisoning, electrocution, disease, territorial fighting with other tigers and drowning in well. There are six tiger reserves in Madhya Pradesh - Kanha, Bandhavgarh, Panna, Bori-Satpura, Sanjay-Dubri and Pench - which have about 257 big cats. While the tiger population in the country was estimated at 1,706 in 2010, it had risen to 2,226 in 2014.
Madhya Pradesh that was once tagged as tiger State, has slipped to number three slot in the country in big cats count and forest department is making its all out efforts to regain the lost glory. Though, this year 22 tigers have died in the state triggering concerns from the forest department and the animal rights activists. Meanwhile, Dubey while talking to The Pioneer alleged that the state government does not have any interest in protecting the striped feline in the state. "MP, which was once tagged as tiger state has slipped to number three slot in the country in big cats count primarily due to the State Government's failure to protect the majestic beasts," Dubey, who also runs NGO Prayatna for protecting the feline, said.
"Even after eight years, the Special Tiger Protection Force has not been formed in MP," he added. "The conviction rate in tiger poaching is below 10 per cent in MP. The intelligence gathering regarding poaching is zero. No preventive arrest in regard to tiger poaching has been made in recent memory," he contended.