Jabalpur, February 25 – In compliance with the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s order, the field Director of Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR) submitted a detailed report on the deaths of tigers within the reserve or adjacent areas since November 2025.
In its 30-page report, the BTR stated that a total of eight tigers have died between November 2025 and February 24, 2026.
Out of these, four tigers died within the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR), and the remaining four in the neighboring forest division (outside the designated BTR boundary).
“Out of the total eight tigers, four deaths occurred within the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, and the post-mortem findings indicated natural causes of death, including diseases, territorial fights, and drowning. The other four tigers died due to electrocution (three due to contact with live electric wires in an open field, and one due to entanglement in a solar power electric fence),” the report, available with IANS, reads.
It further mentioned that out of the four tigers that died due to electrocution, two died in the Umaria forest division and two in the Shahdol North forest division.
The report also stated that, “There is no evidence of poaching in the reported cases from November 25 to date (February 24).”
Referring to the four deaths that occurred within the BTR area, the field director in his report told the High Court that, “Preliminary inquiries and field verification of the four natural deaths that occurred in the BTR indicate that the deaths were due to biological and ecological factors inherent in the wildlife population, and not due to negligence or poaching.”
Notably, the court had sought a detailed report on the deaths of tigers in the BTR area after hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by wildlife activist Ajay Dube through senior advocate Aditya Sanghi earlier this month.
The activists had also raised concerns about the deaths of 54 tigers in Madhya Pradesh in 2025, the highest number of casualties in a single year, and these eight deaths in 2026, alleging that organized poaching and deaths due to electrocution were the main reasons for the decline in tiger numbers.
Responding to these allegations, the field director of the BTR submitted in his report that, “The available data does not support the allegation that tiger deaths in the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve were due to negligence.”
Responding to the BTR's status report, Dube said that the report revealed that despite numerous instructions and claims, the surveillance and intelligence network in the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve and its adjoining territorial forests remains weak.
“This failure has tragically resulted in the death of three tigers due to electrocution from electric wires. Furthermore, in one of these cases, the accused was granted default bail due to the negligence of the Umaria Forest Department,” he added.