7 Jan 2021


DEHRADUN: India lost over 100 tigers in 2020 due to various causes ranging from territorial fights, poaching, road mishaps and natural reasons. According to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), the apex body formed by the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) to keep a check on the status of big cats in the country, the number of tigers killed last year was 106 while the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), an NGO working to combat poaching and illicit trade in wild animals, pegs the number at 109.

The slight discrepancy in the numbers, experts say, arises from the fact that scientifically, it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact number of tiger deaths. “In the wild, the carcass of tigers can get decomposed, and sometimes they are eaten up by scavengers, too, so it is difficult to know exact tiger deaths considering the huge landscape they live in,” said Y V Jhala, senior scientist, Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun. 

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