BHOPAL: Taking serious note of the rising tiger deaths in Madhya Pradesh, particularly in the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR), the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Wednesday directed the reserve’s Field Director to file a status report on the deaths of the big cats.
The BTR, located in the Umaria and Katni districts, reportedly has the highest tiger density in the central Indian state.
According to the latest data from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) on tiger mortalities, out of the 27 tiger deaths reported in the country between January 1, 2026, and February 8, 2026, ten — or 37% — occurred in Madhya Pradesh, which, as per the last tiger census, is home to the highest number of tigers at 785.
Of the ten tiger deaths reported in the state between January 7 and February 2, 2026, four — or 40% — occurred within the BTR territory on January 7, January 8, January 16, and January 20. Additionally, two tigers — a male and a female — were found dead on the same day (February 2, 2026) in Karpa village of Shahdol district, located around five to ten kilometres from the BTR.
Hearing a petition filed by Bhopal-based wildlife and RTI activist Ajay Dubey, a division bench of the MP High Court in Jabalpur, comprising Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf, directed the BTR Field Director to submit a status report regarding the reported tiger deaths, along with an action-taken report in cases where unnatural deaths have been recorded.
The High Court has directed the Field Director to indicate in the status report the steps taken to prosecute those found responsible for the deaths and the action initiated against them.
In its two-page order, the High Court referred to a chart submitted by petitioner Ajay Dubey detailing the reasons behind the tiger deaths. The Court noted that in some instances, the deaths had occurred due to unnatural causes involving human intervention.
The matter has been posted for further hearing on February 25.
During Wednesday’s hearing, the petitioner’s senior counsel, Aditya Sanghi, presented data highlighting tiger deaths in Madhya Pradesh during 2025, which recorded 54 fatalities — the highest single-year tiger mortality since the launch of Project Tiger in 1973 — as well as the ten deaths reported in less than one month in 2026.
During arguments, senior counsel Sanghi contended that rampant poaching is currently plaguing the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve. He argued that forest authorities have remained complacent, often attributing the deaths to “territorial infighting” to mask a grimmer reality.
The petitioner alleged that the primary drivers behind the decline are organised poaching and electrocution, asserting that authorities are “sleeping over” the crisis instead of implementing stringent anti-poaching measures.
Notably, on January 19, 2026, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was constituted to probe the continuous deaths of tigers and leopards in and around the BTR. The SIT, constituted by the state’s Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) and Head of Forest Force (HoFF) V.N. Ambade, is headed by the Conservator of Forests (Shahdol Region). Its members include the in-charge of the State Tiger Strike Force (STSF), the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Anuppur, and Katni-based advocate and wildlife conservationist Manjula Srivastava.
While wildlife experts agree that tiger deaths due to natural causes — particularly territorial fights among the big cats amid a rising population — are not unusual, they are especially concerned about deaths due to unnatural causes, including poaching, poisoning, and electrocution through illegal electric traps.