13 tigers poached in last two years

NEW DELHI: As many as 13 tigers have been poached in the last two years with Kerala reporting maximum cases at five, Lok Sabha was told on Wednesday.

"In all 13 tiger deaths reportedly due to poaching have come to light since the creation of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau in June 2007," Environment and Forest Minister S Regupathy said in a written reply.

Giving details, he said, four tigers were killed in Kerala followed by Assam (2) while Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh reported one case each in 2007.

In 2008, cases of poaching of one tiger each has been reported from Kerala and West Bengal.

The minister said, the WCCB too in joint operations with the respective state police had seized tiger parts and bones from states such as Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal and Assam and is investigating in the matter.

Regarding the steps taken to protect the big cats, Raghupathy said, the WCCB has been created with an aim to network and track offences having national/international ramifications, collection and dissemination of wildlife crime related data to states and other enforcement agencies.

"Also the penalty for committing an offence in a tiger reserve has been made more stringent," the minister added.