See, who's silencing the roar of Maharashtra's big cats

In another rude wake-up call for Maharashtra's forest managers, a tigress and her two sub-adult cubs, were poisoned to death in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra, in a case of revenge killing.

The incident, which comes on the heels of a forest department team busting a poaching ring in Bhandara, stresses on the need to protect tigers outside protected areas (PAs) like wildlife sanctuaries, curate and manage numbers and prevent conflict with humans.

The carcasses were found by locals on Monday in a field near Metepar village in Brahmapuri forest division with a half-eaten calf nearby. This led forest officials to probe the revenge angle.

"We've taken into custody a farmer Pandurang Choudhari," said Ramarao SV, chief conservator of forests (CCF), Chandrapur territorial, adding the accused had admitted to poisoning the carcass.

Nitin Kakodkar, principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF - Wildlife), said the farmer had claimed that the calf had been killed by a dog, and he had poisoned its meat to kill the dog. However, it was the tigers who fed on the carcass. "This (explanation) is immaterial when the tigers died...the reasons will be ascertained in inquiry," he said.

The tigress was aged five and cubs — one male and the other female — around one year. There were no external injuries on the bodies of these animals and their parts like nails and teeth were intact.

While the forest department compensates cattle owners for 75% of the market value of their cows, buffaloes and bullocks, (up to a maximum of Rs 60,000) if they are killed by predators, this does not cover attacks by animals like dogs.

Bramhapuri, which is spread over around 2,900 sq km including a 1,200 sq km forested patch, caters to the spillover tiger population from the nearby Tadoba Andhari tiger reserve (TATR). The TATR and Bramhapuri have the highest concentration of tigers in Maharashtra, which causes conflict with humans.

According to an estimation, Bramhapuri, which has over 600 villages, has over 40 tigers, leading to a saturation in the population of these big cats, while the TATR has above 60 adults, ensuring that put together, they have almost half of Maharashtra's tiger numbers. This has led to plans for relocating some to other habitats with poor tiger population.

In 2019, the number of tiger mortalities in Maharashtra stood at eight. This included two cases of poaching at Tipeshwar wildlife sanctuary (March 16) and Tadoba Andhari tiger reserve (April 13). In addition, the forest staff in Bhandara had nabbed suspected poachers who admitted to killing at least three tigers between 2015 and 2019.

The mortality figure in 2018 was 20, marginally down from 21 in 2017. The numbers were 15 in 2016, 12 in 2015, seven in 2014 and 10 in 2013.

Poachers usually lay live electric wires or snares to trap and kill these big cats. They also poison carcasses of dead animals or water sources to score a hunt. In 2017, Srinivas, son of Maharashtra's iconic tiger Jai, was electrocuted to death in the Nagbhid range. Jai is himself missing from his habitat in Umred Karhandla wildlife sanctuary near Nagpur since 2016 and is suspected to have been poached.

In December 2018, a three-year-old tiger was poached via electrocution in the Tadoba Andhari tiger reserve.

Maharashtra has six tiger reserves. The 2014 tiger census said India has 2,226 tigers, up from 1,706 in 2010. Maharashtra has around 190 such big cats, more than the figure of 169 in 2010. The 2018 tiger census, results for which are yet to be declared formally, has estimated around 240 adult tigers in the state.

The state has six tiger reserves, namely Tadoba Andhari, Pench, Bor, Sahyadri, Melghat and Navegaon Nagzira and a healthy number of tigers outside protected areas (PA) as well. However, the lack of surveillance and protection outside PAs puts tigers at risk.

Rising Mortalities

• In 2019, the number of tiger mortalities in Maharashtra stood at eight. This included two cases of poaching at Tipeshwar & TATR
• The mortality figure in 2018 was 20, marginally down from 21 in 2017. The numbers were 15 in 2016, 12 in 2015 and seven in 2014