The Maharashtra government believes that 25 tigers are likely to be targeted by poachers from neighbouring Madhya Pradesh.The Forest Department in Maharashtra says that an advance of 40 lakhs has been paid to the poachers. It's not clear yet who has commissioned the deaths.
Maharashtra has 169 tigers; most of them inhabit three tiger reserves in the Vidarbha region.
"My people will move about in the forests and monitor watering holes and routes leading to those, as they are the most vulnerable", said A K Nigam, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Western Maharashtra. Mr Nigam also told NDTV Range Forest Officers (RFOs) will meet villagers to get information and publicise awards for clues that could help locate the poachers.
All leave sanctioned for forest guards has been cancelled to ensure there is maximum protection for the tigers.
The alert was issued after a tiger was found dead last month in a poacher's trap in the Tadoba Tiger Reserve at Chandrapur, a 1.5 hour drive from Nagpur.
At the First Stocktaking Meeting of Global Tiger Recovery Programs in Delhi on Tuesday, Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan said that in the last four months, 30 tigers have been killed in India.
Less than a fortnight ago, the Centre had also issued an alert to several states about 'wandering gangs of poachers' who frequent national parks to kill tigers. The Centre has asked states to immediately launch special drives to tackle this threat, including increasing vigil near watering holes, and keeping a close track of tigers who may have wandered outside buffer areas.
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