Overview
- Judges issued notices to the Union and state governments, NTCA and MoEFCC, linked the matter with a related petition on alleged irregularities, and set the next hearing for March 11.
- The Principal Chief Conservator of Forests ordered a fresh Special Investigation Team on January 19 to examine recent tiger and leopard deaths, determine negligence, and recommend preventive steps.
- Official figures cited in the petition note 54 tiger deaths in 2025, the highest annual toll since Project Tiger began, with about 57% classified as unnatural causes.
- The petition highlights cases including a suspected electrocution near a power line in Bandhavgarh and a train kill on the Budni–Midghat line, seeking wildlife crossings on that railway stretch.
- A tigress was reported dead Tuesday near Bandhavgarh’s Manpur buffer with officials noting possible intra-species conflict pending lab results, and local reports said the tally since early 2025 reached 55.