Lok Sabha Question No. 3570 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-08-11
Subject: Poaching of Animals
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Mr Pathan Yusuf

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3570

TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.08.2025

## Poaching of Animals

## 3570.  MR PATHAN YUSUF:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is aware of recent reports confirming the poaching of three tigers  and  one  leopard  near  Sheopur,  Madhya  Pradesh,  as  per  the  lab  analysis  of seized bones;
- (b) the details of the steps taken by the Government to prevent tiger and wildlife poaching in the country, especially in tiger habitats;
- (c) the  status  of  tiger  population  monitoring  in  tiger  habitats  in  the  country  and  the manner in which the Government is ensuring their safety from poachers;
- (d) whether any arrests have been made in connection with seizure of 225 pieces of bones near Sheopur, Madhya Pradesh; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof along with the current progress in the investigation?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) The  State  Government  of  Madhya  Pradesh  has  reported  seizure  of  articles related to big cats near Sheopur, Madhya Pradesh.
- (b) & (c) The  steps  taken  by  the  Government  of  India  through  the  National  Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) for the conservation and protection of tigers is as under:-

## 1. Generic measures

-  Providing assistance to States under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of  'Project  Tiger'  for  protection,  infrastructure  and  antipoaching  operations (including deployment of Tiger Protection Force and Special Tiger Protection Force)  which  is now  ongoing  as  the  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  of  Project Tiger & Elephant
-  Disseminating  of  real  time  information  of  backward  /  forward  linkages relating to poachers / wildlife criminals.
-  Performing supervisory field visits through the National Tiger Conservation Authority and its regional offices.
-  Launching  tiger  reserve  level  monitoring  using  camera  trap  to  keep  a photo ID database of individual tiger.
-  Preparing a national database of individual tiger photo to establish linkage with body parts seized or dead tigers.
-  Assisting States to deploy local workforce in a big way for protection to complement the efforts of field staff.
-  Sharing  of  information  on  seizure  of  body  parts  including  skin  of  tigers among tiger range countries to ascertain source area.

## 2. Security Plan

The National Tiger Conservation Authority has issued generic guidelines for formulating a Security Plan for each tiger reserve which is operationalized in the  overarching  Tiger  Conservation  Plan  which  is  legally  mandated  under section 38 V of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

## 3. Security Audit

The  National  Tiger  Conservation  Authority  has  developed  a  framework  for carrying  out  the  assessment  of  the  security  threats  and  for  formulating  site specific security plan which has been completed in 25 different tiger reserves in Phase-I and action has been initiated for the remaining tiger reserves.

## 4. M-STrIPES  (Monitoring  System  for  Tigers  Intensive-Protection  & Ecological Status)

This is an android application which has three distinct modules namely Patrol module, Ecological module and Conflict module. The Patrol module inter-alia is  a  mechanism  to  ensure  accountability  of  front  line  staff  vis-à-vis  antipoaching  efforts  and  useful  for  the  tiger  reserve  management  to  strengthen protection measures, based on data that is generated through M-STrIPES.

## 5. Amendment to the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972

The  Government  of  India  amended  the  Wildlife  (Protection) Act,  1972  and enhanced punishment for offence in relation to the core area of a tiger reserve or  where  the  offence  relates  to  hunting  in  the  tiger  reserves  or  altering  the boundaries of tiger reserves.

Further, funding assistance is provided under the Project Tiger Component of the  ongoing  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  of  Integrated  Development  of Wildlife Habitats (CSS-IDWH) to tiger range States for conservation of tigers, raising awareness on tiger & other wildlife conservation, habitat management, protection, eco-development, human resource and infrastructure development, voluntary village relocation, as per sanctioned Annual Plan of Operation of the Tiger Reserve, which stems out from a statutory Tiger Conservation Plan.

The tiger population has increased as per the All India Tiger Estimation done in 2022, with an estimated number of 3682 (range 3167-3925) as compared to the 2018 estimation of 2967 (range 2603-3346) and 2014 estimation of 2226 (range 1945-2491).

- (d) & (e) As  reported  by  the  State,  a  total  of  7  accused  have  been  arrested  in  two registered cases by the State Tiger Strike Force, Madhya Pradesh and action has  been  taken  as  per  relevant  provisions  of  the  Wildlife  (Protection)  Act, 1972.

*****