Explained | Why are tigers dying in Nilgiris district? Premium

Tigers in Nilgiris have died due to starvation, fighting, and suspected poisoning. Conservationists worry about the welfare of the animals, as the two mothers of the cubs remain untraced. To prevent further deaths, the forest dept. plans to set up anti-poaching camps, monitor tiger populations, and increase perambulation of key habitats.

The story so far: A total of 10 tigers (six cubs and four adults) have died in the Nilgiris since the middle of August. The six tiger cubs died in two separate incidents, while the four adult tigers died in four separate events, with at least one suspected to have been poisoned. The inability of the state forest department to trace the whereabouts of the two mother tigresses has raised concerns among conservationists about the welfare of the animals.

The first reported tiger deaths occurred on August 16 in the buffer zone of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) in Siriyur. After conducting a postmortem on the remains, forest department officials said that they suspect that the cubs, believed to be only two weeks old, could have died due to starvation or umbilical infection. The second death was of an adult tigress in the Naduvattam Range in the Nilgiris forest division on August 17, with officials suspecting that the tigress died due to injuries after fighting with another animal. Another suspected incident of fighting is believed to have caused the death of the fourth tiger, the second adult, in the Kargudi forest range of MTR on August 31. On September 9, two more tigers were found dead in Udhagai South Range near Avalanche in the Nilgiris Forest Division. One of the tigers, a sub-adult, was found with injury marks, indicating that it too died due to a fight with another animal. However, the larger male, found dead nearby, had no apparent injuries. A search of the area led forest department staff to the carcass of a cow that had been preyed upon by the larger tiger. After an investigation, a man was arrested for poisoning the carcass of the cow in retaliation for the tiger hunting the animal. In a final incident, on September 17, four tiger cubs were found dead over the course of three days in Kadanad in the Nilgiris North Range.

In February this year, the forest department arrested four poachers from Rajasthan who had allegedly poached a tiger in the areas surrounding Emerald Dam near Avalanche, a few kilometres away from where the two tigers were found dead. In addition, the inability of the forest department to track down the two mothers of the six tiger cubs that died in Siriyur and Kadanad has raised concerns over their well-being. Camera traps and tiger trackers continue to look for the animals, but with little luck.

One of the theories put forward by senior forest department officials is that the high density of tigers in the Mudumalai-Bandipur-Nagarhole complex of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve is pushing populations into the surrounding habitats in the Mukurthi National Park, Nilgiris and Gudalur forest divisions. This leads to increased competition between animals and more fighting, resulting in more deaths. According to Nilgiris Division’s District Forest Officer, S. Gowtham, the division is now home to 54 tigers, a significant population. In fact, tigers have been frequently recorded in the outskirts of the Udhagamandalam town multiple times over the last few years.

Conservationists worry that this increase in population could lead to more negative human-animal interactions in the near future. They emphasise the need to regenerate degraded habitats that can be re-colonised by the tigers’ prey such as Sambar, spotted deer and the Indian gaur.

To allay fears that poachers could be targeting tigers, the forest department plans to set up anti-poaching camps in six forest ranges surrounding the Mukurthi National Park. There are also plans to begin annual monitoring of tiger populations in the Nilgiris Forest Division, with the population size, range of each individual animal and other parameters to be recorded for better management. They have also increased perambulation of areas surrounding key tiger habitats in Mukurthi and Mudumalai.