Things are not looking up this year. Within the first 12 days of the new year, four tigers have already died — two at the popular Jim Corbett park and two at Lakhimpur.
2009 was the bloodiest year for the big cat — 66 of them were either poached, poisoned or died of natural causes. If that wasn’t enough, 29 tiger parts were seized while being smuggled out of the country.
Things are not looking up this year. Within the first 12 days of the new year, four tigers have already died — two at the popular Jim Corbett park and two at Lakhimpur. Wildlife experts suggest that some big cats died of natural causes and some were possibly poisoned by people living near wildlife parks.
Wildlife experts have found that poaching accounted for
more than 38% of tiger deaths. The second biggest cause is poisoning, or attacks by villagers who share the jungle with the striped cat.
More worrying is the number of tiger deaths in 2009, which is double of 2008 and 2007, data supplied by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) shows. While 66 tigers died in 2009, 28 died in 2008 and 27 in 2007.
“The situation in India is worrisome. Though poaching is still the biggest cause of tiger deaths, there are increasing cases of big cats being poisoned by people living in and around national parks and reserves,” Belinda Wright, tiger expert at Wildlife Protection Society of India, said.
Since a dead tiger is far more valuable in the international market and the price of tiger parts are always going up, poaching continues to happen, said Wright.
According to Wright, one good thing is the increasing reportage of tiger deaths as this is helping raise awareness levels of people in villages and elsewhere.
“People are more conscious about tiger deaths these days. I would like to believe that there is greater awareness, which is why more reporting happens in the country. But the condition of the tiger is really worrisome,” Wright said.
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