Poaching cases pending for over 4 decades in Madhya Pradesh
17 Jan, 2014The reply to an application filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act has shown that over 50 cases of tiger poaching and over 160 cases of leopard killings are currently underway in various courts across Madhya Pradesh, many cases being nearly 40 years old.
The RTI reply shows that a 1975 case of tiger death in Kanha National Park has its decision pending in the court. Similarly one tiger death case registered in 1979 in Balaghat district is still pending. The reply shows that out of the pending cases, 20 pertain to poaching in the tiger reserves of the state – 6 cases in Kanha National park, 5 cases in Pench National park, 4 cases each at Panna National Park and Bandhavgarh National Park and one poaching case in Satpura National Park.
During the period from 2002 to 2012, a total of 337 tigers were reported dead due to various reasons including poaching, infighting, accidents and old age. The RTI reply, provided by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), shows that out of these reported deaths, 68 deaths occurred due to poaching.