41 tigers poached in last 5 years in Maharashtra

 

 

 

 

 

Maharashtra, which has the fourth largest tiger population in the country -444, has lost 41 tigers in the last five years to poaching, claimed a Right To Information (RTI) data provided by Forest Department recently. RTI activist Abhay Kolarkar asked the Forest Department regarding tiger and leopard deaths in last five years in which the department revealed that from 2020 to January 31, 2025, total 41 tigers were poached, whereas 55 leopards were poached during this span of time.

 

In recent time, the rising poaching incidents in the State are challenging the conservation efforts of the Forest Department. Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) issued red alert twice in the wake of tiger poaching cases for the whole country since 2022 and on both occasions, Maharashtra was the epicentre of this crime. In a latest development, a Rajura-based tiger poaching case has turned into a national threat in which 11 poachers have been arrested so far by Special Investigation Team (SIT). Amid this ongoing investigation, this data of big cat deaths due to poaching raise a question mark on the wildlife conservation by the State Forest Department. As per the RTI reply, five tigers were killed by poachers in 2020 followed by 9 tigers in 2021, 7 in 2022, 15 in 2023 and 2 in 2024.

 

Whereas, in January 2025, three tigers were killed by poachers. Similarly, the year 2020 witnessed the highest 29 leopard deaths due to poaching which was followed by 4 deaths in 2021, 8 in 2022, 9 in 2023, 5 in 2024 and no death took place so far in 2025. In last five years, total 168 tigers died due to various reasons in Maharashtra, whereas a mind-boggling 728 leopards died due to different reasons in the State. In 2023, Maharashtra witnessed the highest 52 tiger deaths in last five years, whereas in January this year, the number has already crossed 11. In 2021, when the country experienced lockdown due to the pandemic and forests were closed, there were the highest 167 leopard deaths due to various reasons in Maharashtra. This year, in January, 21 leopards died and with the passage of time, the number will increase further. As per the data provided by the Forest Department, 37 tigers died between January 1, 2024 and January 31, 2025 for various reasons. Among them, 21 died due to natural causes, 7 killed in road accident, 5 killed in poaching and 4 deaths due to other reasons.