On 9 November 2022, a report titled “Bharat baghon ki taskari ka gadh” was published in Rajasthan Patrika. The said report is based on incorrect facts, figures and misleading information published with the sole intention of creating sensational news. Further, it relies on certain reports that are based on unrealistic assumptions such as the seizure figures are correct and the seized parts of tigers are genuine to derive tiger mortality figures.
These assumptions are wrong for the simple reason that there are certain communities in India that specialize in making fake tiger claws using livestock bones. Counting seized materials such as claws as tigers without authenticating them using DNA-based techniques will often result in excessive tiger deaths. Such reports are published with biased information that has vested interests to denigrate the Indian government’s tiger conservation efforts.
Systematic data on tiger mortality has been maintained by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) only since 2012 and any report detailing tiger mortality prior to 2012 must always depend on unverifiable facts/assumptions and anecdotal evidence. For the period 2017-2021, NTCA recorded 547 tiger mortality cases, of which 393 tigers were due to natural causes, 154 cases related to poisoning (25), trapping (9), shooting/culling (7) with seizures (55). , electrocution (22) and cases recorded as poaching (33). The actual number of tiger deaths attributable to poaching for illegal body parts and wildlife trade in the narrowest sense is 88, which represents 16% of the total number of tiger deaths recorded during the last 5 years.
The All India Tiger Estimation, a science-based monitoring program for tigers, co-predators and their prey that has been in place since 2006, has estimated the growth rate of Indian tigers at 6% per year. This natural growth rate of the tiger population offsets tiger mortality from various causes, including poaching. In addition, areas with high tiger densities experience higher mortality rates because obvious natural processes prevail.
The NTCA has established strict standards for recording tiger deaths and is probably the only tiger country in the world to do so. A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) has been developed for the disposal of a dead tiger, which includes setting up a committee to oversee the necropsy and subsequent disposal of the carcass by burning. Visceral organs are preserved for forensic examination. On the basis of detailed final report, supporting evidence/documents submitted by Tiger Reserves/Tiger Range States, cause of death of tiger is ascertained in NTCA and case of mortality is closed accordingly. The Project Tiger Division and NTCA under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change are committed to protecting the tiger, India’s iconic species, through law enforcement, increased protection of tiger reserves using advanced technological tools.
