The increase in the number of tigers in the Western Ghats and the spillover of their population from Mudumalai and Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserves (MTR and STR) into the Nilgiris forest division are exposing them to higher chances of natural and unnatural causes of mortality, a recent investigation by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) into the deaths of 10 tigers (four adults and six cubs) has said.
The deaths occurred between August 16 and September 19 at five locations — two within the MTR and three in the Nilgiris forest division. The NTCA, along with K. Ramesh, Scientist-F, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun; M. Kirupashankar, Regional Deputy Director, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB); and Doki Adhimallaiah, Wildlife Inspector from Chennai; investigated the deaths.
In their report, the NTCA and the State Forest Department have said that the Western Ghats landscape, comprising the Nagarhole-Bandipur-Wayanad-Mudumalai-Sathyamangalam-BRT complex, has around 30% of India’s total tiger population. “Given the high and increasing number of tigers here — from 382 in 2010 to 828 in 2022 — the dispersal of the tiger population from high-density reserves to those with relatively less tiger occupancy would be natural phenomena,” the report said.
