Jabalpur, Feb 25 Complying with Madhya Pradesh High Court’s order, the field Director of Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR) on Wednesday submitted a detailed report on the death of tigers in the reserves or adjacent areas since November 2025.
In its 30-page report, the BTR submitted that a total of eight tigers have died between November 2025 and February 24, 2026.
Out of the total, four tigers died inside the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR) and four others in the neighbouring territorial forest division (outside the notified BTR boundary).
“Out of a total of eight tigers, four deaths occurred inside the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, and the post-mortem findings were consistent with natural causes of death, which include diseases, territorial fights and drowning. While the other four tigers died due to electrocution (3 due to live electric wire in an open field and 1 due to entanglement in solar power electric fence,” the report available with IANS reads.
It further mentioned that out of four tigers, those died of electrocution – two in Umaria forest division and two in Shahdol North forest division.
The report also submitted that, “There is no evidence of poaching in the reported cases from November 25 to date (February 24).”
Mentioning the four deaths that occurred inside the BTR circle, the field director in its report, told the High Court that, “Preliminary inquiry and field verification of four natural deaths which occurred in BTR, indicates that deaths occurred due to biological and ecological factors inherent in the wildlife population and not attributable to negligence and poaching.”
Notably, the court had sought a detailed report on the deaths of the tigers in the BTR area after hearing a PIL of wildlife activist Ajay Dube through senior advocate Aditya Sanghi earlier this month.
The activists had also raised concern about the death of 54 tigers in Madhya Pradesh in 2025, the highest casualties in the period of one year, and these eight deaths in 2026, alleging that the main reasons behind the decline in tiger numbers are organised poaching and deaths due to electrocution.
Responding to those allegations, the BTR’s field director in its report submitted that, “Available data does not support the allegation that tiger deaths in the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve occurred due to negligence.”
Responding to BTR's status report, Dube said that the report revealed that despite numerous instructions and claims, the surveillance and intelligence network in the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve and its adjoining territorial forests remains weak.
“This failure has tragically resulted in the death of three tigers due to electrocution from electric wires. Furthermore, in one of these cases, the accused was granted default bail due to the negligence of the Umaria Forest Department,” he added.
--IANS
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