22 tigers, 40 leopards died in the state from Jan to April

As many as 22 tigers and 40 leopards died in Maharashtra in the first four months of the year, the total number of tiger deaths since 2022 clocking 129. This was revealed by state forest minister Ganesh Naik in the state assembly on Friday. He noted that hunting was one of several reasons for these deaths.

- Faisal Malik

The death of wild animals, especially tigers and leopards, was raised by legislators in the lower house on Friday. They alleged that human intervention was drawing them out of the forest. They also sought to know the action taken by the state government to protect these animals. Legislators such as Dhananjay Munde, Santosh Danve, Manoj Jamsutkar and Sudhir Mungantiwar raised the matter.