Human deaths caused by tiger attacks in the country decreased in 2020, compared to the previous year, according to the data available with the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
While 40 persons were killed in 2020 in attacks by big cats, 50 persons were killed in 2019. A total of 320 persons were killed in the country in tiger attack from 2014 to 2020, of which Maharashtra stood first with 99 persons and West Bengal second with 78 persons, according to the data.
In response to an RTI application from K. Govindan Namboothiri, a Kochi based RTI campaigner, the NTCA said that the largest number of 25 deaths in tiger attacks was reported in Maharashtra in 2020 and the lowest in Kerala, Bihar, and Tamil Nadu states, with one death each.
As many as 857 tigers died in the country during 2012-2020 owing to various reasons, including poaching.
The largest number of 202 tigers died in Madhya Pradesh, and the lowest number in Jharkhand, Gujarat, Haryana, and Arunachal Pradesh, with one death each during the period.
Maharashtra and Karnataka stood second and third in the causality rate of the big cat, with 141 and 132 tiger deaths, respectively. As many as 45 tigers died in Kerala during the period.
Tiger deaths
However, the number of tiger deaths increased in 2020 against the previous year. As many as 106 tigers died in 2020 as against 96 in 2019. But the number of poaching incidents declined from 17 in 2019 to seven such incidents in 2020.
