Why Are Tigers Dying In Nilgiris District?

Relevance: GS3 - Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment GS1 - Changes in critical geographical features (including water-bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.

(Source: The Hindu, 09/28/2023)

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Why in the news?

• Recently, ten tigers including six cubs and four adults in the Nilgiri hills died.
• Conservationists have expressed concern about the welfare of the animals in the region.

How did the tigers die?

• Postmortems conducted on the remains of the two-week-old cubs from Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) in Siriyur indicated that they could have died of starvation or umbilical infection.
• Officials suspect that injuries suffered while fighting with other animals caused the death of an adult tigress in the Naduvattam Range in the Nilgiris forest division, an adult tigress in the Kargudi forest range of MTR, and a sub-adult tiger in the Udhagai South Range near Avalanche in the Nilgiris Forest Division.
• Another large male tiger died due to consuming a poisoned carcass of a cow in Udhagai South Range.
• In September, four tiger cubs were found dead in Kadanad in the Nilgiris North Range, but the reasons behind their death have not been ascertained.

Why are conservationists concerned?

• Inefficiency of forest department: Conservationists have raised concerns about the welfare of tigers in the region as forest officials have been unable to locate the two mothers of the six cubs that died at Siriyur and Kadanad.
  • Camera traps and tiger trackers have also been unsuccessful in locating the tigers.
• Poaching: Poachers had been arrested earlier near Emerald Dam which is close to where the tigers were found dead, raising concerns about illegal hunting and exploitation of tigers in the region.

What are the reasons for the deaths?

• High density: The high density of tigers in the Mudumalai-Bandipur-Nagarhole complex of the Nilgiri Biosphere is causing them to stray into the Mukurthi National Park, Nilgiris, and Gudalur forest divisions.
  • This could lead to more fights and competition between animals, which could result in more animal deaths in the region.
• Human-animal conflict: The Nilgiri forest division has around 54 tigers with tigers being regularly sighted in Udhagamandalam town recently.
  • This could increase the chances of negative human-animal interactions as animals stray into human habitations due to the shortage of prey as a result of habitat degradation.
  • Environmentalists have recommended recolonizing these degraded habitats with tiger prey species such as Sambar, spotted deer, and the Indian gaur.

How are officials responding?

• Anti-poaching camps: The forest department has planned to set up anti-poaching camps in six forest ranges around the Mukurthi National Park.
• Monitoring: It will also conduct regular monitoring of the population size, range of individual animals, and other parameters of tiger species in the Nilgiri to ensure better species management.
• Perambulation: Patrols will be intensified around key tiger habitats such as Mudumulai and Mukurthi.

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FAQs

MCQs

Question: Among the following Tiger Reserves, which one has the largest area under “Critical Tiger Habitat”? (UPSC CSE 2020)

(a) Corbett

(b) Ranthambore

(c) Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam

(d) Sunderbans

Question: Which one of the following is not a Biosphere reserve? (UPSC CSE 2005)

(a) Agasthyamalai

(b) Nallamalai

(c) Nilgiri

(d) Panchmarhi