The loss of five tigers in a single shocking incident in Karnataka’s Male Mahadeshwara Hills Wildlife Sanctuary has come as a reality check, bringing to the fore key conservation issues that were put on the back burner amidst euphoria over rising populations of the big cat.

If the official explanation of farmers wreaking vengeance against the cats by poisoning a cattle carcass, which the tigers consumed and died, is true, the crime poses uncomfortable questions for the State Forest Department and National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) about unchecked cattle farming in a protected area.

Official surveys of tiger numbers show the MM Hills sanctuary in the southeast tip of Karnataka, contiguous with Tamil Nadu, has a weak........

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