Madhya Pradeshis at the heart of the rise of tiger numbers in the latest census released by PM Narendra Modi. The statewide figures may be released in July, but officers estimate MP’s tiger Population around 650-700.
If it turns out to be true, it means MP will retain its ‘Tiger State’ stripes. It already has the highest number of leopards and the only cheetah population in the wild.
The latest census shows a rise of 200 in the tiger count in the four years since the last census, and the central landscape has contributed significantly to this rise.
Despite natural deaths and “non-targeted killings” of tigers by traps and electrocution, forest officers in MP are confident of counting up to 700 tigers, an inspiring rise from 526 the 2018 census.
Madhya Pradesh is known as a ‘Tiger State’, a ‘Leopard State’, and now a ‘Cheetah State’ due to its forests, which must be conserved at any cost. The letter emphasizes that the repeated attacks on forest staff are not just against individuals but an attack on the state itself.