Sanctioned trophy hunting by another name a grey area in man-animal conflict

Rise in man-animal conflict due to steady shrinkage of natural habitats have led to increasing incidents of big cats being labelled 'man-eaters'

- Neeraj Santoshi and Jayashree Nandi

HALDWANI/NEW DELHI: The steady shrinkage of natural habitats and the resultant rise in man-animal conflict have led to increasing incidents of big cats being labelled "man-eaters" and caught or shot down in authorised kills by hobby hunters deployed by authorities, triggering a wider debate on the ethical as well as environmental dimensions of the practice.

The latest case came from Uttarakhand on December 11, when the state forest department caught a tiger in the Naukuchiatal area near Bhimtal on suspicion that it had killed a woman. The woman, a 52-year-old local, was allegedly killed in a big cat attack on November 25, though forest officials were not sure whether it was a tiger or a leopard. Now, the department is trying to ascertain if the captured animal was a man-eater.

There are at least 3,167 tigers in India, of which 3,080 were photographed in 2022, the Status of Tigers Report released by the National Tiger Conservation Authority last year said. In 2018, there were estimated to be at least 2,967 tigers. There were 1,411 tigers in 2006; 1,706 in 2010; 2,226 in 2014 and 2,967 in 2018. There has been a 124.45% increase in tiger numbers since 2006, according to the estimation results.