Lok Sabha Question No. 2605 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-17
Subject: Poaching of Animals
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Shri Brijmohan Agrawal

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2605

TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.03.2025

## Poaching of Animals

## 2605. SHRI BRIJMOHAN AGRAWAL:

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

- (a)   the details of number of Tiger Sanctuaries in the country along with the number of tigers in those sanctuaries, State-wise;
- (b)  the details of the number of animals including tiger which have been killed/poached/illegally  hunted  in  the  forest  areas  of  the  country  during  the  last  three years and the current year, State-wise;
- (c)   whether  the  Government  has  provided  any  amount  for  the  protection  of  wildlife including tigers during above period; and
- (d)  if so, the details thereof, State-wise and the strategy adopted by the Government for the protection of animal including tigers in forest areas of the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE

(SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)

- (a) There are 58 tiger reserves in the country. 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 26033346)  and  2014  estimation  of  2226  (range  1945-2491).    The  details  of  tiger estimation pertaining to tiger landscapes in the country, for the years 2014, 2018 and 2022 is at Annexure-I.
- (b) The number of confirmed poaching / illegal hunting / killed in respect of tigers over the last three years and current year, State-wise is as follows:

|   Year | State          |   Number of tigers confirmed poaching / illegal hunting / killed |
|--------|----------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|   2022 | Madhya Pradesh |                                                               06 |
|   2022 | Andhra Pradesh |                                                               02 |
|   2022 | Karnataka      |                                                               03 |
|   2022 | Odisha         |                                                               01 |
|   2022 | Maharashtra    |                                                               02 |

| 2023   | Maharashtra    | 03   |
|--------|----------------|------|
|        | Kerala         | 01   |
|        | Madhya Pradesh | 08   |
|        | Bihar          | 02   |
|        | Uttarakhand    | 01   |
|        | Assam          | 03   |
|        | Tamil Nadu     | 02   |
|        | Andhra Pradesh | 01   |
| 2024   | Kerala         | 01   |
|        | Madhya Pradesh | 02   |
| 2025   | Nil            | Nil  |

The  information  regarding  other  wild  animals  is  not  collated  at  the  level  of Government of India.

- (c) 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, ecodevelopment, human resource and infrastructure development, voluntary village relocation, as per sanctioned Annual Plan of Operation of the Tiger Reserve. The details  of  funds  released  during  last  three  years  and  current  financial  year  is  at Annexure-II .
- (d) The  Government  of  India,  through  the  National  Tiger  Conservation  Authority, has  advocated  a  three  pronged  strategy  to  manage  human-wildlife  negative interactions as follows:-
- (i) Material  and  logistical  support: Funding  support  through  the  ongoing Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Project Tiger, is provided to tiger reserves for acquiring capacity in terms of infrastructure and material, to deal with tigers dispersing out of source areas.  These are solicited by tiger reserves through  an  Annual  Plan  of  Operation  (APO)  every  year  which  stems  out from  an  overarching  Tiger  Conservation  Plan  (TCP),  mandated  under Section  38  V  of  the  Wildlife  (Protection)  Act,  1972. Inter  alia, activities such as payment  of ex-gratia and compensation, periodic  awareness campaigns  to  sensitize,  guide  and  advise  the  general  populace  on  mananimal  conflict,  dissemination  of  information  through  various  forms  of media,  procurement  of  immobilization  equipment,  drugs,  training  and capacity  building  of  forest  staff  to  deal  with  conflict  events  are  generally solicited.
- (ii) Restricting habitat interventions : Based on the carrying capacity of tigers in a tiger reserve, habitat interventions are restricted through an overarching TCP.  In case tiger numbers are at carrying capacity levels, it is advised that habitat  interventions  should  be  limited  so  that  there  is  no  excessive  spill over of wildlife including tigers thereby minimizing man-animal conflict. Further,  in  buffer  areas  around  tiger  reserves,  habitat  interventions  are

restricted  such  that  they  are  sub-optimal  vis-à-vis  the  core/critical  tiger habitat  areas,  judicious  enough  to  facilitate  dispersal  to  other  rich  habitat areas only.

- (iii) Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs): The National Tiger Conservation Authority  has  issued  following  three  SOPs  to  deal  with  human-animal conflict, which are available in public domain:

i.  To deal with emergency arising due to straying of tigers in human dominated landscapes ii. To deal with tiger depredation on livestock

iii.  For  active  management  towards  rehabilitation  of  tigers  from source areas at the landscape level.

The three SOPs inter alia include the issue of managing dispersing tigers, managing  livestock  kills  so  as  to  reduce  conflict  as  well  as  relocating  tigers from source areas to areas where density of tiger is low, so that conflict in rich source areas does not occur.

Also as per Tiger Conservation Plans need based and site-specific management interventions  are  undertaken  by  the  tiger  reserves  for  improving the quality of wildlife habitat and funding support for these activities is provided under the ongoing Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats.

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## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF THE OF THE RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2605 ON POACHING OF ANIMALS DUE FOR REPLY ON 17.03.2025

Details of tiger estimation pertaining to tiger landscapes in the country, for the years 2014, 2018 and 2022 (As per All India Tiger Estimation Reports)

| State                                                                | Tiger Population                                                     | Tiger Population                                                     | Tiger Population                                                     |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                      | 2014                                                                 | 2018                                                                 | 2022                                                                 |
| Shivalik-Gangetic Plain Landscape Complex                            | Shivalik-Gangetic Plain Landscape Complex                            | Shivalik-Gangetic Plain Landscape Complex                            | Shivalik-Gangetic Plain Landscape Complex                            |
| Uttarakhand                                                          | 340                                                                  | 442                                                                  | 560                                                                  |
| Uttar Pradesh                                                        | 117                                                                  | 173                                                                  | 205                                                                  |
| Bihar                                                                | 28                                                                   | 31                                                                   | 54                                                                   |
| Shivalik Gangetic                                                    | 485                                                                  | 646                                                                  | 819                                                                  |
| Central Indian Landscape Complex and Eastern Ghats Landscape Complex | Central Indian Landscape Complex and Eastern Ghats Landscape Complex | Central Indian Landscape Complex and Eastern Ghats Landscape Complex | Central Indian Landscape Complex and Eastern Ghats Landscape Complex |
| Andhra Pradesh                                                       | 68                                                                   | 48                                                                   | 63                                                                   |
| Telangana                                                            | -                                                                    | 26                                                                   | 21                                                                   |
| Chhattisgarh                                                         | 46                                                                   | 19                                                                   | 17                                                                   |
| Madhya Pradesh                                                       | 308                                                                  | 526                                                                  | 785                                                                  |
| Maharashtra                                                          | 190                                                                  | 312                                                                  | 444                                                                  |
| Odisha                                                               | 28                                                                   | 28                                                                   | 20                                                                   |
| Rajasthan                                                            | 45                                                                   | 69                                                                   | 88                                                                   |
| Jharkhand                                                            | 3                                                                    | 5                                                                    | 1                                                                    |
| Central India                                                        | 688                                                                  | 1033                                                                 | 1439                                                                 |
| Western Ghats Landscape Complex                                      | Western Ghats Landscape Complex                                      | Western Ghats Landscape Complex                                      | Western Ghats Landscape Complex                                      |
| Karnataka                                                            | 406                                                                  | 524                                                                  | 563                                                                  |
| Kerala                                                               | 136                                                                  | 190                                                                  | 213                                                                  |
| Tamil Nadu                                                           | 229                                                                  | 264                                                                  | 306                                                                  |
| Goa                                                                  | 5                                                                    | 3                                                                    | 5                                                                    |
| Western Ghats                                                        | 776                                                                  | 981                                                                  | 1087                                                                 |
| North Eastern Hills and Brahmaputra Flood Plains                     | North Eastern Hills and Brahmaputra Flood Plains                     | North Eastern Hills and Brahmaputra Flood Plains                     | North Eastern Hills and Brahmaputra Flood Plains                     |
| Assam                                                                | 167                                                                  | 190                                                                  | 229                                                                  |
| Arunachal Pradesh                                                    | 28                                                                   | 29                                                                   | 9                                                                    |
| Mizoram                                                              | 3                                                                    | 0                                                                    | 0                                                                    |
| Nagaland                                                             | -                                                                    | 0                                                                    | 0                                                                    |
| Northern West Bengal                                                 | 3                                                                    | 0                                                                    | 2                                                                    |
| North East Hills, and Brahmaputra                                    | 201                                                                  | 219                                                                  | 236                                                                  |
| Sunderbans                                                           | 76                                                                   | 88                                                                   | 101                                                                  |
| TOTAL                                                                | 2226                                                                 | 2967                                                                 | 3682                                                                 |

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Annexure-II

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (c) OF THE OF THE RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2605 ON POACHING OF ANIMALS DUE FOR REPLY ON 17.03.2025

## Details of funds released during last three years and current financial year (as on 11.03.2025)

(Rs. in Lakhs)

| Sl. No.   | State             |   2021-22 |   2022-23 |   2023-24 (including PT&E) |   2024-25 (including PT&E) |
|-----------|-------------------|-----------|-----------|----------------------------|----------------------------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh    |    292.11 |      0    |                     149.42 |                     365.13 |
| 2         | Arunachal Pradesh |    869.08 |    787.19 |                    1119.91 |                    1767.99 |
| 3         | Assam             |   1476.75 |   2559.78 |                    2619.31 |                    2043.6  |
| 4         | Bihar             |    552.72 |    246.9  |                     308.98 |                     361.69 |
| 5         | Chhattisgarh      |    355.85 |    165.75 |                     292.86 |                     181.58 |
| 6         | Jharkhand         |    195.06 |    227.75 |                     405.79 |                     727.56 |
| 7         | Karnataka         |   2956.7  |   1716.92 |                    2613.08 |                    2801.27 |
| 8         | Kerala            |    868.78 |    417.59 |                     996.22 |                     221.37 |
| 9         | Madhya Pradesh    |   3523.52 |   3956.88 |                    4303.79 |                    5910.5  |
| 10        | Maharashtra       |   2991.06 |    809.62 |                    2614.45 |                    3373.51 |
| 11        | Mizoram           |    374.13 |     78.75 |                     144    |                     247.92 |
| 12        | Odisha            |   1056.86 |    946.82 |                    1012.59 |                     563.4  |
| 13        | Rajasthan         |    841.05 |    529.78 |                     968.3  |                     579.48 |
| 14        | Tamil Nadu        |   1576.22 |    501.35 |                    2547.97 |                    1450.53 |
| 15        | Telangana         |    543.26 |      0    |                     323.31 |                     291.68 |
| 16        | Uttarakhand       |   1463.71 |    741.13 |                    1495.52 |                    1207.53 |
| 17        | Uttar Pradesh     |   1304.85 |    919.96 |                    1031.98 |                    1381.25 |
| 18        | West Bengal       |    708.28 |    458.77 |                     522.58 |                     425.95 |
|           | Total             |  21950    |  15064.9  |                   23470.1  |                   23901.9  |

*****