Madhya Pradesh has lost 32 tigers in the first five months of 2026, raising concerns among wildlife officials. While poaching networks linked to international syndicates have been largely dismantled, new threats have emerged. Electrified fencing outside core areas and the canine distemper virus are now the primary causes of big cat deaths.
Changing Pattern of Tiger Deaths
According to forest officials, the majority of recent tiger deaths have occurred outside protected reserve boundaries. As tiger populations surge, animals are increasingly moving into human-dominated landscapes. The state, home to 785 tigers as per the 2022 census, has seen a 49% increase in tiger numbers between 2018 and 2022, nearly double the national growth rate. However, habitat expansion has not kept pace, forcing tigers to venture into buffer forests, agricultural belts, and village fringes.
Officials estimate that around 40% of the state's tigers now frequent areas outside protected zones, with nearly 20% moving through heavily human-dominated landscapes. This overlap has led to a shift in mortality patterns, with approximately 80% of tiger deaths this year occurring outside protected areas.
Electrocution: A Growing Threat
Electrocution from illegal wire traps has become a significant threat. These traps are often set by bushmeat hunters or farmers to kill wild boar and nilgai or protect crops. Poachers tap into 11kV power lines using bamboo poles and extend wires across animal paths, creating crude live-wire traps. When an animal contacts the wire, it receives a severe electric shock, often leading to death.
Ritesh Sirothia, chief of the Special Tiger Protection Force, explained that electric line tripping records are key evidence in such cases. These records capture the exact time, date, duration, and location of disruptions, helping establish timelines and corroborate poaching incidents.
Areas along the fringes of Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve and Pench Tiger Reserve are particularly vulnerable. Chief Wildlife Warden Samita Rajora stated, "We are focusing on these high-risk zones and strengthening coordination with the electricity and revenue departments. Efforts are underway to analyze power-line trip data along with GPS locations to identify electrocution hotspots."
Mortality Data and Detection
In 2025, Madhya Pradesh recorded 55 tiger deaths, a mortality rate of roughly 7%, slightly higher than the national average of under 5%. Officials note this remains within ecological limits given the state's dense and growing tiger population. Nearly 69% of these deaths were due to natural or incidental causes, including territorial fights, disease, age, road and train accidents. At least 13 deaths involved cubs under one year, a category with naturally high mortality rates.
However, nearly one in five tiger deaths in 2025 was linked to electrocution. Around 11% were confirmed poaching cases where body parts were recovered and suspects arrested. Officials highlight that Madhya Pradesh's high detection rate of nearly 84% (compared to the national average of 54%) means more deaths are documented, contributing to the numbers.
Canine Distemper Virus Outbreak
Adding to the worries, Kanha Tiger Reserve is battling an outbreak of canine distemper virus (CDV), a highly infectious disease transmitted from domesticated dogs to wild carnivores. The outbreak killed five tigers from a single family: a tigress and her four cubs.
Forest officials launched emergency containment measures, vaccinating nearly 100 dogs across eight buffer villages and sealing off a 2 sq km forest patch linked to the outbreak. Water bodies inside the quarantine zone were drained, disinfected with lime and bleaching powder, and sealed temporarily. Tourist movement has been restricted and entry points closed.
Rajora emphasized the multi-layered response: "Since the virus is transmitted through dogs, vaccination in buffer villages is critical. We have initiated quarantine measures, vaccination drives, and intensive monitoring in the affected landscape."
Preventive Efforts and Challenges
Despite warnings and directives issued in 2018 for coordinated action to curb electrocution deaths, little has changed on the ground. Wildlife activist Ajay Dubey criticized the electricity department for reluctance to share responsibility, stating, "If they had come forward for joint patrolling and instant data sharing, the problem of electrocution could have been checked."
Officials assert that preventive efforts are now being intensified through coordinated patrols, monitoring of illegal power connections, awareness campaigns in fringe villages, and action under the Electricity Act, 2003. The state continues to grapple with the dual threats of electrocution and disease as it strives to protect its thriving tiger population.
