Rescued radio-collared tiger found dead; MP records a tiger death every four days

In yet another glaring case of alleged negligence in monitoring and surveillance by field staff of the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department, a radio-collared adult tiger that was recently rescued from a village and released into the jungle was found dead in the buffer zone of the Panna Tiger Reserve (PTR) in Madhya Pradesh.

The two-year-old male feline had been rescued on 26 April, after it entered the Tara village in the area. Subsequently, forest officials put a collar on the tiger’s neck and released it into the forest of the PTR.

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Officials claimed that after the release, the field staff of the PTR were continuously monitoring the tiger’s movement.

Despite that, the adult male tiger died, and its carcass was recovered on Tuesday from the Amanganj area in the PTR’s buffer zone.

According to PTR Field Director Brijendra Shrivastava, the tiger rescued from the Tara village was found dead. The official said that the tiger was fitted with a radio collar and was being monitored.

Wildlife activist Ajay Dubey expressed deep anguish over the incident.

Terming the tiger’s death a state failure, Dubey alleged that it isn’t just unfortunate, but a systemic collapse.

“The lack of stern action against responsible forest officials is the root cause of these repeated deaths of tigers. High-tech radio collars mean nothing if the boots on the ground aren’t doing their jobs”, Dubey averred.

This latest death has increased the total number of tiger deaths, including cubs, in Madhya Pradesh to 32 between 1 January and 5 May this year.