10 ‘sugarcane tigers’ missing in Pilibhit, sparks poaching, migration fear

PILIBHIT: Forest department officials have raised concerns after more than 10 tigers mysteriously disappeared from the sugarcane fields of Pilibhit's Amaria block over the last two years, with leopards taking over their habitat. In the first such move to address the issue of missing "sugarcane tigers" (the big cats getting the name as they made the lush fields their home), Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR) divisional forest officer Manish Singh has asked the forest department to form a high-level panel to determine whether the tigers were poached or migrated due to changes in their environment.
In a letter to UP's principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife) Sanjay Shrivastav, Singh said, "The disappearance of the sugarcane tigers could be attributed to either poaching or migration. Both situations require urgent and effective action." Singh also proposed relocating some of PTR's "excess" tigers to other sanctuaries, including Suhelwa and Sohagi Barwa, to reduce conflicts with humans.

PTR has seen a sharp increase in its tiger population, growing from 23 tigers in 2014 (when the reserve was formed) to 72 in 2022, far exceeding the reserve's capacity to support 30 to 35 tigers. Due to this, about 40% of PTR's tigers have strayed into agricultural areas, leading to human-wildlife conflicts. Since Sept 2016, a total of 59 people have been killed in tiger-related incidents, while 19 captured tigers were relocated.
The tigers' absence in Amaria became evident when leopards began to permanently occupy their former territory. Dr Qamar Qureshi, head of the Tiger Cell at the Wildlife Institute of India, said leopards settling in the tigers' areas strongly indicate the striped felines' absence.
The presence of tigers in the Amaria block was first recorded in Nov 2012, when a tigress and her cubs moved into the sugarcane belt near Deuni Dam, about 30km from Pilibhit Tiger Reserve. Over time, more tigers established territories there, benefiting from abundant water, prey, and cover along the Kailash and Devha rivers.
However, farmers in the area, including Prashant Shukla of Bishanpur village and Paramveer Singh Perry of Surajpur village, have reported seeing only one or two tigers in the last two years. "The tigers never posed a threat to us. They even helped keep crop-damaging animals like nilgai and wild boars at bay," Shukla said.
TIMES VIEW: India's tiger population has grown impressively from 1,411 in 2006 to 3,682 as per the tiger census released in July 2023, but the habitats designated for them haven't kept pace. This imbalance is causing increased human-wildlife conflicts as tigers stray into agricultural lands. To protect both humans and wildlife, authorities must create safe corridors between habitats and relocate tigers to regions with lower populations. Without these efforts, the success of tiger conservation may be overshadowed by the growing risksofconflict.