DEHRADUN: The increasing deaths of tigers in Uttarakhand have once again raised concerns among the officials of the forest department. Uttarakhand, which ranks third in the country in terms of tiger population, has lost 19 tigers in the first ten months of this year, significantly higher than the 57 deaths recorded in last five years.
Speaking to this newspaper, Sameer Sinha, chief wildlife warden of the Uttarakhand forest department, said, “The state-wise tiger population data released in July this year shows an increase of 715 tigers in 2022 as compared to 2018 across India”.
He added, “Based on the 2022 data, the total number of tigers is 3,682, which was 2,967 in 2018. Madhya Pradesh had the highest number of tigers at 785, followed by Karnataka at 563 and Uttarakhand at 560.”
Sinha said, “All tiger deaths happened due to a conflict between tigers, in which no incident of poaching has been reported. As the tiger population has increased, the conflict between them also increased.
The number of tiger deaths in Uttarakhand is increasing every year. This figure of tiger deaths is enough to expose the government’s tall claims about the protection of wildlife. More than 170 tigers have died in the state from 2001 to 2023. In 2023, 19 tigers have died so far.
According to forest department officials, “Most tigers in Uttarakhand are found in Jim Corbett National Park. According to an estimate, their number is close to two and a half hundred”. At the same time, the presence of tigers has also been found in other districts of the state. Uttarakhand is the first state in the country where tigers are present in every district, but the ever-increasing number of their deaths has also become a cause of trouble for the Uttarakhand Forest Department.
Incidentally, a tiger was pinned down by an earth mover in March during a botched rescue attempt outside the reserve at Bel Padav range in Terai West. The big cat later died in captivity. A postmortem found the tiger died of septicaemia and asphyxiation. It had triggered a blame game among forest officials over the use of bulldozer. Some of the key forest divisions adjoining Corbett such as Terai East, Terai West, Terai Central, Ramnagar, Haldwani and Landowne have a healthy number of tigers. Corbett, as per forest officials, acts as a source population and the divisions adjoining provide space for the sink population.
Jim Corbett National Park a home to tigers
According to forest department officials, “Most tigers in Uttarakhand are found in Jim Corbett National Park. According to an estimate, their number is close to two and a half hundred”. Some of the key forest divisions adjoining Corbett such as Terai East, Terai West, Terai Central, Ramnagar, Haldwani and Lansdowne have a healthy number of tigers. Corbett, as per forest officials, acts as a source population and the divisions adjoining provide space for the sink population.