10th Tiger Death in MP This Year Raises Big Cat Safety Concerns

A radio-collared adult tiger has been found dead in the core area of Rani Durgavati Tiger Reserve (RDTR) in Sagar district, taking the number of tiger fatalities in Madhya Pradesh this year to ten . Forest officials said the death was a result of a territorial fight between two tigers .

The tiger, approximately two-and-a-half years old , had been re-wilded after being orphaned in Kanha Tiger Reserve . It was relocated to RDTR last month as part of ongoing conservation efforts to strengthen tiger populations across the state. Officials said the move aimed to ensure genetic diversity and balance predator populations in different reserves.

However, the incident has raised concerns about monitoring and reporting protocols . Wildlife activist Ajay Dubey alleged that despite the tiger being equipped with a satellite radio collar , which showed the animal had remained stationary for several days, the forest department failed to conduct a physical verification. “The delay in reporting this death points to gross negligence and lack of transparency,” Dubey said, urging an immediate high-level inquiry by the NTCA .

The postmortem revealed a broken skull, canine marks, and injuries to the eye, indicating a violent encounter with another tiger . Sagar Divisional Forest Officer Rajnish Kumar Singh confirmed pugmarks of another tiger around the site and said the examination was conducted following NTCA guidelines .

The death also casts a shadow over plans to relocate cheetahs to RDTR later this year , which would become their third proposed home in India . Dubey warned that if the forest department cannot guarantee the safety of a monitored, resident tiger , the protection of more vulnerable cheetahs would be even more challenging. He demanded strict disciplinary action against the monitoring team and officers for dereliction of duty.

A petition in the Madhya Pradesh High Court noted that 54 tigers died in the state in 2025 , the highest toll since Project Tiger began , with more than half of the deaths attributed to unnatural causes . This latest fatality has highlighted the urgent need for robust monitoring, transparency, and safety protocols in tiger and big-cat conservation.