2021 Saw 126 Tigers Died In India, The Highest In A Decade As Per Government Data

Data from the National Tiger Conservation Authority showed that 126 tigers died in India, as per Scroll.in. This is a new record, going past the 121 recorded in 2016.

This is the most number of fatalities in a year since the authority started compiling the data in 2012.

This is the most lost in a decade and authorities said that the majority of the tigers had died of natural causes. Few were killed by poachers while others died due to man-animal conflict.

WWF

Until December 29, MP reported the highest number of deaths with 41 as per TOI.

¡°Many tigers die of natural causes inside the forest area and their deaths go unreported,¡± said an official from the Uttar Pradesh forest department who did not want to be named.

Sanjay Pathak, the field director of Uttar Pradesh¡¯s Dudhwa Tiger Reserve, said that since the tiger population has gone up, so have the deaths, as per TOI.

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¡°The mortality rate being high should not be a cause for alarm,¡± he said.

¡°The death toll this year is less than 5%. Officials are putting efforts across India for the conservation of forests and wildlife species,¡± he added.

The Centre in 2019 had said that India's tiger population had jumped to 2967 in 2018 from 1411 in 2006.