Lok Sabha Question No. 2232 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-08-05
Subject: Tiger and Leopard Menace in Uttar Pradesh
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Shri Anand Bhadauria

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2232

TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.08.2024

## Tiger and Leopard Menace in Uttar Pradesh

## 2232 SHRI ANAND BHADAURIA:

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

- (a) the  number  of  persons  injured/died  due  to  tiger  and  leopard  attacks  in  the  country during the last three years and the current year, year-wise and State-wise;
- (b) whether the Government is aware of the tiger and leopard menace and danger to lives and properties in Lakhimpur Kheri and Sitapur districts in Uttar Pradesh;
- (c) if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) the action taken by the Government to save people from leopard and tigers in adjoining districts of National Parks?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) The details of human deaths by tiger attack as reported by States is as under:-

| S. No.   | State             |   2021 |   2022 | 2023   | 2024   |
|----------|-------------------|--------|--------|--------|--------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh    |      0 |      0 | -      | 0      |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh |      0 |      0 | 0      | 0      |
| 3        | Assam             |      0 |      0 | -      | 0      |
| 4        | Bihar             |      4 |      9 | -      | 1      |
| 5        | Chhattisgarh      |      0 |      0 | 3      | 0      |
| 6        | Jharkhand         |      0 |      0 | -      | 0      |
| 7        | Karnataka         |      1 |      1 | 8      | 1      |
| 8        | Kerala            |      0 |      0 | 0      | 0      |
| 9        | Madhya Pradesh    |      2 |      3 | 10     | 3      |
| 10       | Maharashtra       |     32 |     82 | 35     | 17     |
| 11       | Mizoram           |      0 |      0 | 0      | -      |
| 12       | Orissa            |      0 |      0 | 0      | 0      |
| 13       | Rajasthan         |      0 |      0 | -      | 0      |
| 14       | Tamil Nadu        |      3 |      0 | 1      | 0      |
| 15       | Telangana         |      0 |      0 | -      | 0      |
| 16       | Uttar Pradesh     |     11 |     11 | 25     | 10     |
| 17       | Uttarakhand       |      1 |      3 | -      | 6      |
| 18       | West Bengal       |      5 |      1 | -      | -      |
| TOTAL    | TOTAL             |     59 |    110 | 82     | 38     |

Human deaths due to leopard attack are not collated at the Government of India level.

- (b) The Government of Uttar Pradesh and the Union Government are aware of the tiger and leopard menace in Lakhimpur District of Uttar Pradesh and is taking actions for mitigating human-wildlife conflicts.
- (c) & (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  man-animal  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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