SC seeks state’s reply on death of 5 tigers by poison

The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought response from the Congress government on the death of five tigers in the state due to alleged poisoning and directed the Centre to find a permanent solution to the man-animal conflict, observing that forest ground staff in several wildlife sanctuaries are grossly understaffed.

- Abraham Thomas

The court noted that even in the Male Mahadeshwara (MM) Hills wildlife sanctuary where the tigress and four cubs were found dead last month, 80% posts of foresters and forest watchers were vacant.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Bhushan R Gavai said, “A permanent solution has to be found by taking all states on board. There is such a huge vacancy,” while issuing notice to the ministry of environment, forests and climate change (MoEFCC) along with the state government for seeking their response.

The court's response was on the basis of a report of the expert body, central empowered committee (CEC) assisting the court on wildlife and environment issues which claimed this is the highest number of tiger deaths reported in a single incident.

The CEC produced findings of a special investigation team (SIT) constituted by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) which concluded that the tiger deaths were related to poisoning and was a deliberate act by villagers who had sprayed pesticide on a cattle carcass that was consumed by the tigers.