Bhopal: After a gap of around nine years, Madhya Pradesh once again gained the status of Tiger State on Monday. Earlier in 2010, Madhya Pradesh had lost this status to Karnataka. In the Tiger Census 2018 results declared on Monday, this central Indian State again topped with 526 tigers.
The census has put the total number of striped cats at 2967 while MP’s tally saw a phenomenal improvement and has surged to 526 up from 308 recorded in 2014. Karnataka which was the number one state in terms of tigers since 2010 slipped to second place though it follows MP closely with 524 tigers. Hill state Uttrakhand too follows these frontrunners with 442 tigers in its kitty. Chhattisgarh is the state besides Mizoram that has saw a declining tiger count.
As wildlife enthusiasts remained sceptical, both forest officers and Madhya Pradesh Forest minister Umang Singhar had remained upbeat that MP could well be seated as Tiger State once the results of 2018 tiger count are announced and state could have 400 tigers in the fresh census. And the actual results seems to have exceeded expectation by a long way.
In last four years, MP has added 218 tigers to its forests which seems no less than a miracle given the poor record the state holds in terms of tiger safety. According to a report of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), India lost 657 tigers from 2012 to 2017 and MP was the worst culprit by losing 141 striped cats in this period.
According to a report from wildlife group CLAW (Conservation Lenses and Wildlife), MP lost 12, 9, 14, 11 and 30 tigers in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively owing to variety of reasons including –natural deaths, poisoning, electrocution, territorial fight and others.
Since the establishment of tiger reserves in eighties, MP continued to be the state with maximum numbers of tigers. However as the poaching picked up, the ill-equipped state could not cope up with the menace of poachers and tiger population started to decline mostly in early part of this century.
No wonders MP was unseated as number Tiger State in 2010 when it reported 257 tigers as against 300 recorded by Karnataka. In 2006, MP had recorded 300 striped cats while Karnataka had reported 290 tigers.