India is home to more than 70 percent of the world's wild tigers (Representational)
As many as 177 tigers have died in India in 2023 with Maharashtra registering maximum tiger deaths at 45, officials said on Friday.
As per the data provided by the Environment Ministry, 40 per cent of tiger deaths in 2023 are composed of cubs and subadults.
The environment ministry issued data after some media reports mentioned the high number of 202 tiger deaths in 2023.
"As of December 25, 2023, 177 tiger deaths have occurred in the country and not 202 as has been incorrectly reported. This is predominantly in states which have a robust tiger population and have habitats which are functioning at their carrying capacity," the ministry said.
"Maharashtra has registered the highest number of deaths at 45 followed by Madhya Pradesh at 40, Uttarakhand at 20, Tamil Nadu at 15 and Kerala at 14. In addition, 54 per cent of these have taken place outside tiger reserve," the ministry added.
India is now home to more than 70 percent of the world's wild tigers. The country has a minimum of 3167 tigers.
Wild tigers in India are growing at a healthy rate of 6 percent per year, which balances the loss of tigers due to various natural causes and maintains the tiger population as per the carrying capacity of the habitat, the ministry asserted.
"While the average of a tiger in the wild is around 10-12 years, 40 per cent of tiger deaths in 2023 are composed of cubs and subadults, age classes which have naturally high mortality rates due to tiger land tenurial dynamic," the ministry mentioned.
The total number of tiger reserves in the county is 54 which is more than 78,000 square KM in the area and covers more than 2.30 per cent of the geographical area of India. This year a new tiger reserve "Rani Durgavati" was introduced.
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