145 tigers died in 2023 in India, with 10 dead in last 40 days in Tamil Nadu alone

As many as 145 tigers have been reported dead across the country so far this year, with the death of a male adult tiger at Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh on September 20 being the most recent, according to the data released by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCR).

At least 10 tigers, including six tiger cubs, have died in the last 40 days in the Nilgiri district alone, as per officials. The National Tiger Commission team visited the Nilgiri district for investigation on Monday (September 25).

Out of 145 deaths, 11 tiger deaths were reported in MTR, two in Sathymangalam Tiger Reserve (STR), and one in Srivilliputhur Megamalai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu. In the last 40 days, the district witnessed 10 tiger deaths, including the death of a male tiger due to poison and six tiger cubs abandoned by their mother.

Some 34 out of 145 tigers have died in Madhya Pradesh in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, Kanha Tiger Reserve and Panna Tiger Reserve; 31 have died in Maharashtra, 16 in Uttarakhand, and the remaining deaths took place in the states of Karnataka, Kerala, Assam, Chhattisgarh and Bihar.

Causes of maortality

According to the National Tiger Conservation Authority, the following are the details of tiger mortality for the period 2012–2020 due to causes such as natural deaths, poaching, unnatural deaths, but not poaching and seizures.

2023 has witnessed the highest trend of tiger mortality in India since 2012. Take a look at the graphical representation of the tigers' deaths year-wise recorded for the period 2012–2023 given below: