Bhopal:
A cub was killed by a tiger in Madhya Pradesh’s Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR) taking toll of big cat deaths in the state to 19 since January this year. The cub, 3 to 4 month-old cub was killed yesterday by a tiger in the reserve, acting BTR field director Sunil Kumar Agrawal told PTI.
With this, three tigers have been reported dead in the state in the last six days. Earlier this month, two big cats died on June 11 and June 16 at Panna Tiger Reserve and Kanha Tiger Reserve, respectively.
Since January this year, a total of 19 tigers have died in the wild, according to figures on National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) website. On January 2, a tiger death was reported at the Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR).
Three big cats comprising a tigress and its two cubs were poisoned to death in the core area of Pench Tiger Reserve on March 28. A maximum of seven deaths were reported from Kanha Tiger Reserve (KTR), followed by five and three in PTR and Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, respectively.
Two deaths were reported from Chhindwara district separately where in one case, carcass of the tiger was recovered on April 5. One death was reported from the wild of Shahdol on February 22.
Meanwhile, Ajay Dubey, founder secretary of NGO Paryatna, which works for tiger conservation, demanded a judicial inquiry into the 19 deaths of big cats in last six months. Dubey claimed that out of at least 49 deaths of big cats in the country since January this year, 19 have been reported from MP, which is alarming.
