A tiger was found dead in Maharashtra’s Melghat reserve in Amravati district on January 5, taking the toll to four tiger deaths in six days. Pench Tiger Reserve, stretching across Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, is just a couple of hours’ drive from Nagpur, which makes it a convenient destination. Inside Pench National Park (Sudipta Bhattacharjee)In the aftermath of these reports, we decided to visit Maharashtra’s forests, to see for ourselves why it was facing so much flak. On our mind was the final report of the National Tiger Conservation Authority’s (NTCA) fact-finding committee that raised questions over the way Avni was controversially killed. Once such solar-operated pumps are replicated in Bandipur National Park in Karnataka, where we found a rich treasure trove of wildlife, they will provide much-needed succour.

Source: The Telegraph January 19, 2019 20:48 UTC