Another feather in India's Tiger conservation story, under 5% mortality recorded in over 4 years

India is a home to 3,682 tigers as per the 'Status of Tigers: Co-predators & Prey in India-2022' report, released by the NTCA. India recorded its worst tiger deaths, 182 (2023), followed by 126 (2024) and 122 (2022).

The 2022 estimation also showed healthy annual growth rate of tigers at 6.1%, which offsets natural losses and the mortality which is not even 5 per cent. From just 1,411 tigers in 2006, the country's tiger population surged to 3,682 in 2022, making it home to nearly 75 per cent of the world's wild tigers.

Due to efforts of the Government of India through the Project Tiger started in 1973 and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) which is implementing it since 2006, the Tiger population has seen a steady growth, which is evident in findings of the quadrennial All India Tiger Estimation conducted in 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018, and 2022.

According to the NTCA data, the first reported tiger death in 2025 was from January 2, which was from the Bramhapuri forest division in Maharashtra, and it was an adult male tiger. Three days after, an adult female tiger died in Madhya Pradesh's Pench Tiger Reserve. The last reported tiger death was a sub-adult female tiger that was found in Nagpur Circle, Wardha T division range, Maharashtra on December 31.

R Sreenivasa Murthy, a retired IFS officer and the man behind reintroduction of big cats in Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, said India has the highest tiger population in the world, therefore, "it is natural that the number of deaths will also increase."

"When the tiger numbers have increased, it is natural to a great extent that the mortality rate will also increase. However, the situation has improved over the years. This year mortality rate is 4.53% of the total tiger population which is less than 10 per cent and it is not alarming or worrying. We can't be complacent as death of every individual tiger matters. It should be essentially analysed whether it was a natural mortality or any other reasons," Murthy told ANI.

Wildlife expert said the causes of Tiger death range from natural deaths to electrocution, road and rail accidents and illness, adding that these "issues must be analysed and addressed by the concerned authorities."

"Budhni-Midghat railway track continues to pose a threat to the wildlife. This stretch is a dangerous death trap with numerous wild cats killed annually, highlighting a major conflict between infrastructure and conservation. Trains often exceed the speed in this sensitive zone, making it impossible for tigers to escape. To address this issue, we need upper passes and retrofitting of existing under passes," Murthy further told ANI.

Based on the location of tiger mortality event, the mortality data from 2012-2025 is grouped into three categories namely; the tiger mortalities that took place inside the tiger reserve, those events that happened outside tiger reserves and seizures of tiger skin/ bone.

According to the NTCA, the mortality data indicates that out of total 1581 tiger mortality events 52.5% (tiger deaths) of all the mortality events took place inside the tiger reserves, and 47.5% (tiger deaths) of tiger mortalities were recorded outside the boundary of tiger reserves.

Out of the recorded seizures of tiger body parts 19.3% are inside tiger reserves and 80.7% are outside tiger reserves.

The tiger abundance within the Tiger Reserve is highest in Corbett (260), followed by Bandipur (150), Nagarhole (141), Bandhavgarh (135), Dudhwa (135), Mudumalai (114), Kanha (105), Kaziranga (104), Sundarbans (100), Tadoba (97), Sathyamangalam (85), and Pench-MP (77).

With India hosting almost 75 per cent of the world's wild tigers, the country is preparing for the 2026 Tiger Estimation, the world's largest wildlife survey with results expected in 2027. (ANI)