Lok Sabha Question No. 978 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-02
Subject: Death of Tigers in Ranthambore National Park
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Shri Gaddigoudar Parvatagouda Chandanagouda, Shri Dushyant Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO 978

TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.12.2024

## Death of Tigers in Ranthambore National Park

## 978 SHRI GADDIGOUDAR PARVATAGOUDA CHANDANAGOUDA: SHRI DUSHYANT SINGH:

Will the MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has taken cognizance of the missing tigers/deaths of tigers in Ranthambore Tiger Reserve, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether any probe is ordered to investigate the issue, if so, the details thereof, if not, the reasons therefor;
- (c) the steps taken by the Government to protect tigers and details of the current status of the tigers reported dead or missing from the said National Park along with the details of the steps taken/ proposed to be taken to address the situation;
- (d) the details of factors identified as contributing to this unprecedented number of deaths and decrease in the number of tigers;
- (e) the  details  of  the  specific  measures  taken/proposed  to  be  taken  by  the  Forest Department  to  mitigate overcrowding  and  territorial conflicts  among  tigers in Ranthambore National Park; and
- (f) whether  the  Government  has  set  up  an  inquiry  committee  to  address  the  potential lapses by park officials, if so, the details thereof along with the changes recommended in  terms  of  monitoring  protocols,  field  operations,  or  conservation  strategies  to prevent further tiger deaths, if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)

- (a) & (b) As  per  communication  received  from  State  of  Rajasthan,  a  committee  was constituted by the Chief Wildlife Warden, Rajasthan.  The Government is aware of the order of the State constituting a committee to inquire into missing tigers of Ranthambhore.
- (c) The Government of India has taken several initiatives for tiger conservation in the country  which  are  at Annexure-I. As  per  the  5 th cycle  of  the  All  India  Tiger Estimation, 2022 conducted by the Central Government, the tiger estimation for the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve is 57 + 0.13.  Four (04) tiger deaths of the said tiger reserve have been reported during the current year.  Ten (10) tigers out of the said  missing  tigers  have  already  been  traced  by  the  State  as  per  the  report received from the State.
- (d) Ecologically productive areas like the Ranthambhore tiger reserve are characterised  by  a  high  turnover  of  tigers  (large  number  of  births  and  deaths) owing  to  several  intrinsic  and  natural  causes  relating  to  their  land  tenure dynamics  (internecine  combats,  infanticide  movement  to  new  areas  etc.)  and biological carrying capacity of the habitat for population viability.
- (e) & (f) The  Government  of  India  had  advised  the  State  of  Rajasthan  to  adopt  the landscape approach to conservation keeping in view the ecology of metapopulations, based on which the latter notified the Ramgarh Vishdhari Tiger Reserve and Dholpur-Karuali Tiger Reserve respectively to the west and east of the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve respectively.  Further, action has been initiated in-coordination with the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) to ascertain the possibility of wildlife crime or other reasons of unnatural deaths.

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## ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (c)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 978 ON DEATH OF TIGERS IN RANTHAMBORE NATIONAL PARK DUE FOR REPLY ON 02.12.2024

## Several milestone initiatives have been taken by the Government of India for protection of tigers

1. Amendment of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 in 2006 to provide enabling provisions for  constituting  the  National  Tiger  Conservation  Authority  under  section  38  IV  B  and  the Tiger and Other Endangered Species Crime Control Bureau under section 38 IV C.
2. Comprehensive guidelines under section 38O 1 (c) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 issued for  Project Tiger and Tourism  in Tiger Reserves  on 15 th   October,  2012, namely the National  Tiger  Conservation  Authority  (Normative  Standards  for  Tourism  activities  and Project Tiger) Guidelines, 2012.
3. Strengthening of antipoaching activities, including special strategy for monsoon patrolling, by providing funding support to tiger reserve States, as proposed by them, for deployment of antipoaching  squads  involving  ex-army  personnel  or  home  guards,  apart  from  workforce comprising  of  local  people,  in  addition  to  strengthening  of  communication  and  wireless facilities.

## 4. Since the year 2014 (till 25.11.2024), following tiger reserves have been notified :

|   1 | Sathyamangalam (Tamil Nadu)               |
|-----|-------------------------------------------|
|   2 | Mukandra Hills (Rajasthan)                |
|   3 | Nawegaon-Nagzira (Maharashtra)            |
|   4 | Amrabad (Telangana)                       |
|   5 | Pilibhit (Uttar Pradesh)                  |
|   6 | Bor (Maharashtra)                         |
|   7 | Rajaji (Uttarakhand)                      |
|   8 | Orang (Assam)                             |
|   9 | Kamlang (Arunachal Pradesh)               |
|  10 | Srivilliputhur Megamalai (Tamil Nadu)     |
|  11 | Ramgarh Vishdhari (Rajasthan)             |
|  12 | Ranipur (Uttar Pradesh)                   |
|  13 | Veerangana Durgavati (Madhya Pradesh)     |
|  14 | Dholpur-Karuali (Rajasthan)               |
|  15 | Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla (Chhattisgarh) |

5.  Approval  of  National  Tiger  Conservation  Authority  has  been  accorded  to  Sunabeda Wildlife Sanctuary, MM Hills Wildlife Sanctuary, Madhav National Park, Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary and Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary for notification as Tiger Reserve.
6.  The  State  of  Uttar  Pradesh  has  been  advised by  the  NTCA  for  declaring  Sohagi  Barwa Wildlife Sanctuary as a Tiger Reserve.
7.  A  scientific  methodology  for  estimating  tiger  (including  co-predators,  prey  animals  and assessment  of  habitat  status)  has  been  evolved  and  mainstreamed.    The  findings  of  this estimation and assessment are bench marks for future tiger conservation strategy.  India is the only  country  to  have  completed  5  cycles  of  the  All  India  Tiger  Estimation  using  this methodology.
8. As per the 5th cycle of All India Tiger Estimation, the country has a tiger estimate of 3682 with a range of 3167-3925 which is 70% of the global tiger population.
9. The 18 tiger States have notified the core/critical tiger habitat (45562.24 sq. km.), and the buffer/peripheral  area  (38051.97  sq.km.)  of  all  the  56  tiger  reserves  in  the  country,  under section 38V of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, as amended in 2006.
10. Financial and technical help is provided to the State Governments under various Centrally Sponsored  Schemes,  such  as  the  Project  Tiger  Component  of  the  umbrella  scheme  of 'Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats' for enhancing the capacity and infrastructure of the State Governments for providing effective protection to wild animals.
11. India has a bilateral understanding with Nepal on controlling trans-boundary illegal trade in wildlife and conservation, apart from a protocol on tiger conservation with China.
12. A protocol has been signed in September, 2011 with Bangladesh for conservation of the Royal Bengal Tiger of the Sunderban. The bilateral meeting on Transboundary Conservation  of  Tigers  in  Sundarban  Landscape  of  India  and  Bangladesh  was  held  at Kolkata on 14 th  February 2023.
13. A sub-group on tiger and leopard conservation has been constituted for cooperation with the  Russian  Federation.    A  tripartite  MOU  between  the  National  Tiger  Conservation Authority, Wildlife Institute of India and A.N. Severstov Institute of Ecology & Evaluation was signed on 4.12.2018 for cooperation in scientific research on tigers.
14.  India  is  the  founder  member  of  the  Global  Tiger  Forum  (an  intergovernmental organization)  of  Tiger  Range  Countries  for  addressing  international  issues  related  to  tiger conservation.
15.  A  MoU  signed  with  Myanmar  for  combating  timber  trafficking  and  promoting  wildlife conservation:A  Memorandum  of  Understanding  (MoU)  has  been  signed  between  the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar for Cooperation on Combating Timber Trafficking, and Conservation of Tigers and other Wildlife has been signed on 27th February, 2020.
16. The 3 rd   Asia Ministerial Conference (3 AMC) was organized in New Delhi from 12-14 April 2016.  Inspired by the statement of Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, during this conference that 'conservation  of  tigers is not a choice, it is an imperative',  to  achieve  the concrete results of ensuring the conservation of tigers in the wild and their habitats by 2022.
17.  The  Special  Tiger  Protection  Force  (STPF)  has  been  made  operational  in  the  States of Karnataka (Bandipur), Maharashtra (Pench, Tadoba-Andhari, Nawegaon-Nagzira, Melghat), Rajasthan (Ranthambhore) and Odisha (Similipal), out of 13 initially selected tiger reserves,

with 60% central assistance under the ongoing Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Project Tiger, Kaziranga (Assam) with 90% central assistance.

18.  Implementing  a  tripartite  Memorandum  of  Understanding  (MOU)  with  tiger  States, linked to fund flows for effective implementation of tiger conservation initiatives.
19.  Steps  taken  for  modernizing  the  infrastructure  and  field  protection,  besides  launching 'Monitoring system for Tigers' Intensive Protection and Ecological Status (M-STrIPES)' for effective field patrolling and monitoring.  The M-STrIPES application has been made android based with three distinct modules, viz. patrol, ecological and conflict.
20. As a part of active management to rebuild Sariska and Panna Tiger Reserves where tigers had  become  locally  extinct,  reintroduction  of  tigers  have  been  done.    The  successful reintroduction of wild tigers in Panna is a unique example and one of a kind in the world as the  rewilded  and  reintroduced  tigresses  are  breeding.    Further,  under this  initiatives, tigers have  been  re-introduced  in  the  western  part  of  the  Rajaji  Tiger  Reserve  (Uttarakhand), Madhav  National  Park  (Madhya  Pradesh),  Mukundra  Hills  Tiger  Reserve  and  Ramgarh Vishdhari Tiger Reserve (Rajasthan).
21. To assess occupancy of tigers in high altitude landscapes, a collaborative project with the Global Tiger Forum was implemented.
22. Providing special assistance for mitigation of human-tiger conflicts in problematic areas.
23.  Standard  Operating  Procedures  (SOPs)  have  been  issued  in  9  thematic  areas  as  below with inputs from officials and experts, fine tuned to meet the present challenges in the field:-
- i. for dealing with tiger death.
- ii. to  deal  with  emergency  arising  due  to  straying  of  tigers  in  human  dominated landscape.
- iii. for disposing the tiger/leopard carcass/body.
- iv. to deal with orphaned / abandoned tiger cubs and old / injured tigers in the wild.
- v. to deal with tiger depredation on livestock.
- vi. for Interstate Co-ordination amongst tiger reserves that share boundary.
- vii. for  active  management  towards  rehabilitation  of  tigers  from  source  areas  at landscape level.
- viii. to deal with stray/feral dogs in tiger reserves.
- ix. to deal with the Tiger re-introduction and supplementation in wild.
24.  Phase-IV  tiger  reserve  level,  continuous  monitoring  of  tigers  using  camera  traps  and building up data on photo captures of individual tigers, has been institutionalized.
25. A national repository of camera trap photo IDs of individual tigers has been created.
26.  Economic  Valuation  of  sixteen  tiger  reserves  done  in  collaboration  with  the  Indian Institute  of  Forest  Management to assess  value of the ecosystem services they provide and their potential role in climate change mitigation.
27. Initiated a pilot project on monetizing carbon sequestration to benefit Tiger Conservation Foundations and local in collaboration with TERI.

28. Assessment of Status, Density and Change in Forest Cover in and around tiger reserves of the Shivalik Gangetic Plain Landscape done in collaboration with the Forest Survey of India.

29.  Based  on  International  standards,  security  audit  framework  of  the  NTCA  has  been validated for implementing across all tiger reserves.  25 tiger reserves have been assessed for their security protocols through this framework.

30. To create more inviolate areas and in order to incentivize voluntary village relocation, the package has been increased from Rs. 10 lakhs to Rs. 15 lakhs.

31.  To assess  status  of  tiger  bearing  areas  outside  tiger  reserves,  the  CA|TS  (Conservation Assured|Tiger Standards) framework -an international accreditation. 3 sites accredited with CA|TS  certification  are  in  India,  namely  the  Ramnagar,  Lansdowne,  Forest  Divisions  in Uttarakhand and 24 South Parganas in West Bengal.  CA|TS has now been extended to tiger reserves  and  23  sites  namely  Manas,  Kaziranga,  Orang,  Satpura,  Pench  (Maharashtra), Kanha, Panna, Valmiki, Dudhwa, Parambikulam, Mudumalai, Bandipur, Anamalai, Sundarbans Bandhavgarh, Pench (MP), Sathyamangalam, Navegaon-Nagzira, Tadoba, Melghat, Periyar, Kali and Pilibhit Tiger Reserves have been accredited with CA|TS.
32. Tiger Conservation Authority Fund has been operationalised, as envisaged in the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

33. Successful reintroduction of cheetah :- Cheetah is the only large carnivore that has been extirpated  in  India  over  historical  times.  A  project  to  bring  back  Cheetah  by  way  of introduction  has  been  launched.  As  part  of  the  project,  consultative  bilateral  meetings  and negotiations were held with Republic of Namibia and Republic of South Africa. The bilateral negotiations culminated with signing of MoUs with Republic of Namibia and Republic of South Africa on 20th July 2022 and 17th January 2023 respectively. The MoUs facilitate biodiversity conservation with specific focus on conservation and restoration of cheetah in their former range areas from which they went extinct.

Following the signing of MoU with Republic of Namibia, a first of batch 8 cheetahs have been  successfully  translocated  from  Namibia  to  Kuno  National  Park  and  on  17th September 2022, the cheetahs were released into quarantine enclosure by the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India. Under the provisions of the MoU signed with South Africa,12 Cheetahs (7 males, 5 females) were translocated from South Africa to Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh, India on 18th February 2023.

A  dedicated  team  of  forest  officials,  cheetah  experts  and  veterinarians  has  been undertaking protection as well as monitoring of cheetahs 24x7 basis.  Post introduction of the cheetah in India, 17 Cheetah cubs were born on Indian soil.

Efforts have been initiated to enter into engagements with the Governments of Kenya and Botswana too.

34.  Bilateral agreement  with  Cambodia -  The  Indian  delegation  visited  Cambodia  for assessing the  field  situation  and  the  capacity  building  requirements  for  tiger  reintroduction initiative  in  Cambodia.  Subsequently,  a  MoU  with  Cambodia  regarding  ''Cooperation  in biodiversity conservation and sustainable wildlife management recovery strategy of tiger and its habitat'' has been signed.

35.   Forest  Fire  Audit  Protocol  for  Tiger  Reserves  - To  assess  the  fire  preparedness  and manage complete life cycle of forest fires in tiger reserve, the NTCA has come out with Forest Fire Audit Protocol for Tiger Reserves. The protocol will facilitate tiger reserves in assessing their preparedness for combating the forest fire.
36.  Scientific  co-operation  agreement  in  the  field  of  camera  trap  data  management  with Russia: An MoU was signed with the Land of the Leopard National Park (LLNP), for sharing the  technical  knowhow  in  the  field  of  camera  trap  based  monitoring.  Under  the  MoU,  the NTCA and WII will provide  technical  assistance  to  LLNP  to  use  CaTRAT  (Camera  Trap Data  Repository  and  Analysis  Tool).  The  tool  was  developed  through  joint  collaborative efforts of NTCA, WII and IIIT.
37. India has also signed an MoU with Guatemala on 'Conservation of the Tiger (Panthera Tigris)  and  the  Jaguar  (Panthera  Onca)'  which  envisages  to  use  India's  expertise  for conservation of Jaguars.
38. Pre-Summit Meeting of the Tiger Range Countries (TRCs) organized at New Delhi- A pre-summit meeting of Tiger Range Countries was organized by NTCA at New Delhi from 10-12 August, 2022 for finalizing the draft declaration to be adopted at 2 nd  International Tiger Forum held at Vladivostok, Russia.
39. Water Source Atlas of Tiger Reserves:- For the first time NTCA has came up with the report which is designed in the atlas format to provide spatial maps showing water sources in the  tiger  reserves.  This  water  source  atlas  based  on  the  available  remotely  sensed  data analysed in GIS platform, provides a first cut information on the existing water bodies in the tiger reserves.
40. International award to tiger reserves:- The Pilibhit Tiger Reserve in Uttar Pradesh and Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu have been conferred with the inaugural Tx2 international award constituted by a consortium of international organization namely GEF, UNDP,  IUCN,  WWF  and  GTF.  Three  more  tiger  reserves  namely;  Pench  Tiger  Reserve (Madhya  Pradesh)  and  Pench  Tiger  Reserve  (Maharashtra)  jointly  and  Satpura  Tiger  Reserve (Madhya Pradesh) have been awarded with Tx2 award for the year 2022-2023.
41.  Project  Tiger  completed  50  years:-  The  commemoration  of  50  years  of  Project  Tiger' event was inaugurated by Hon'ble Prime Minister of India in Mysuru, Karnataka on 9th April 2023. During the event Hon'ble PM also released a commemorative coin on the completion of 50 years of Project Tiger.
42.  In  order  to  assess  the  management  effectiveness  of  tiger  reserves,  NTCA  has  been undertaking "Management Effective Evaluation" (MEE) at an interval of 4 years. The 5th cycle  of  MEE  was  carried  out  for  51  tiger  reserves  in  2022  and  the  summary  report  was released  during  the  Commemoration  of  50  years  of  Project  Tiger  event  by  Hon'ble  Prime Minister of India in Mysuru, Karnataka on 9th April 2023.  Out of 51 tiger reserves, 12 Tiger Reserves have achieved 'Excellent' category, followed by 21 Tiger Reserves in 'Very Good' category, 13 Tiger Reserves in 'Good' category and 5 Tiger Reserves in 'Fair' category.

43. The International Big Cat Alliance was launched during Commemoration of 50 years of Project Tiger event by Hon'ble Prime Minister of India in Mysuru, Karnataka on 9th April 2023.  The  focus  of  the  International  big  cat  alliance  will  be  on  the  conservation  of  the world's seven major big cats.  The same was established on 12.3.2024 after approval of the

Cabinet on 29 th  February, 2024. 44. All India Tiger Estimation 4 th  Cycle enters into Guinness World Record book:- India's Tiger Estimation' has entered into the Guinness World Record as largest camera trap based wild science based tiger monitoring methodology popularly known  as 'All India animal monitoring exercise in the world.

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