Chhattisgarh’s tiger conservation efforts have taken a severe hit, with a devastating 59% decline in the tiger population since 2014. A recent assessment ranks the state as the worst performer in tiger conservation, with only 3 tigers left in the reserves by 2018. This alarming drop places Chhattisgarh far behind its neighboring states like Madhya Pradesh, which has seen an impressive rise in tiger numbers over the same period.
The Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) report, which evaluates tiger reserve management across India, ranked Chhattisgarh’s performance as highly ineffective. Key reasons include lack of trained manpower, biotic interference in core areas, poor infrastructure, and a general lack of monitoring and time management actions by the authorities. While Kerala leads the performance scale with 82%, Chhattisgarh lags at the bottom with just 45.62%.
Wildlife enthusiasts and experts have expressed concern about the i