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551 tigers died in 5 yrs, including 114 due to poaching: Govt tells Parliament
In the last five years, 128 tigers died due to natural causes, 114 fell prey to poachers, 19 died due to unnatural causes but weren’t poached and the deaths of 290 tigers were still under scrutiny
The central government on Thursday told Parliament that a total of 551 tigers died in the last five years and among them, 114 fell prey to poachers.
Union minister of state for environment, forest and climate change Ashwini Kumar Choubey was replying to a query raised by Bihar MP and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sushil Kumar Modi on the population status of tigers in India.
“As per All India Tiger Estimation 2018, the tiger population in India is estimated to be 2,967 (being lower and upper limits of 2,603 to 3,346). Tiger population is increasing at a rate of 6% per annum in India when compared from 2006 to 2018 estimation,” Choubey said.
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He said that in the last five years, 128 tigers died due to natural causes, 114 fell prey to poachers, 19 died due to unnatural causes but weren’t poached and the deaths of 290 tigers were still under scrutiny.
He said that of the total number of tigers that died in the last five years, 208 tigers were adults.
Elucidating on the plans of the government to minimize poaching incidents, Choubey said, “The anti-poaching measures of tiger reserves are reviewed regularly by the NTCA [National Tiger Conservation Authority] during the field directors meeting and during the supervisory visits of senior officials. Further, under the ongoing Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Project Tiger, funding support is provided to tiger reserves for establishing and maintenance of patrolling camps, watch towers, vehicles, Special Tiger Protection Force, communication, intelligence gathering, capacity building, clearing of patrolling paths, forest roads that are crucial for strengthening anti-poaching efforts.”
