Tigers in India are dying in record numbers
- Posted
As the government prepares to release the latest assessment of the tiger population in the country, there is bad news for the big cat. At least 274 tigers have died in the last four years, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said in response to a question in the Parliament on November 26. This figure is the highest for any given period between two assessment cycles. Of this number, only 82 tigers died due to natural reasons. More than 70 per cent of tiger deaths were due to poaching or reasons that forest departments have not been able to establish yet.
According to the 2010 census, India had approximately 1,706 tigers (between the lower limit of 1,520 and upper limit of 1,909). Between 2006 and 2010, around 180 tigers were reported to have died. From 2002 to 2006, 105 tigers had died, while 146 tigers were reported dead between 1998 and 2002. See link below to read the report in Down to Earth