India lost 5 tigers a month this year: NTCA report

Vijay Pinjarkar, TNN Nov 23, 2011, 07.02AM IST NAGPUR: Even though the number of tigers has increased from 1,411 (2006) to 1,706 (2010) in the last four years, India is losing five tigers a month with the death toll in the wild already crossing the half century mark this year. According to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), which takes stock of all deaths, over 51 tigers have been killed or poached between January 5 and November 20. In fact, 31 deaths were recorded after the release of the NTCA report - Status of tigers in India - by former minister for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh on March 28 earlier this year. The report painted a rosy picture with tiger numbers showing a 20% increase but experts say that the speed with which tiger deaths are being registered is alarming. Of the 51 deaths reported so far, 42 are from the wild and the other nine relate to poaching as body parts like skin, nails, bones and teeth have been seized. Of these deaths, 14 alone have been recorded in Uttrakhand, 4 each in Maharashtra, MP and Chhattisgarh, and 3 in Karnataka. With more than a month to go for the end of the year, the 42 deaths of tigers equals figures of 2010. The numbers registered by the NTCA are on the lower side as they don't include several missing tigresses whose abandoned cubs are then forced to lead a life in captivity either in a zoo or rescue centre. On Monday there were reports from Bandhavgarh National Park in Madhya Pradesh about a tiger dying under mysterious circumstances. An overdose of tranquiliser is being attributed to the reason.Some like Nitin Desai, the Central India head of the Wildlife Protection Society of India, feels that even the wildcats rescued from the wild should be counted as a loss. "The chances of them being reintroduced in the wild and surviving are rare," he said citing the incident of the three tigers in Bor Sanctuary in Wardha district, which were rescued and are now more than two years old. An array of reasons like natural, infighting, injuries and poaching have been attributed as cause of deaths. However, at times officials also try to hide the real cause. For example, in the latest death of the Tipeshwar Sanctuary tiger in Yavatmal district on Sunday, the animal was entangled in a wire trap laid by poachers for herbivores. But officials claim that the tiger died a natural death when it got strangulated. Samir Sinha, head of TRAFFIC-India which monitors illegal wildlife trade, said with about half the world's wild tigers, "we in India hold a very major and challenging responsibility to protect our national animal". "While the loss of every tiger should be cause for worry, we must also be prepared to accept that any population will have a certain level of mortality. More than the numbers, it's the nature and cause of death that's the concern," he added. The tiger death in Tipeshwar was perhaps "entirely avoidable". "Persons responsible should be dealt severely under the law," Sinha said. The TRAFFIC head said the forest department needs not only to strengthen its presence in the area but also to reach out to wider sections of the society on educating them about such incidents and their impacts, so that they can be avoided in future. "Given their precarious situation in the wild, every unnatural death of a wild tiger is cause for worry," said Sinha. Conservationists say even as death of every tiger counts, the positive side of the issue is there have been reports of 20 new cubs from Tadoba-Andhari, Pench (MP) and Bandhavgarh tiger reserves in Central India. Extrapolate to other tiger habitats, and the rise in numbers could be significant. http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-11-23/nagpur/30432574_1_tiger-death-three-tigers-national-tiger-conservation-authority