In Manipur, reports of tigers being killed by villagers pour in regularly even as officials claim there were no big cats left there.

According to a news item published in the latest issue of the Northeast Sun magazine, fully grown tigers were being killed and their bones and skins sold in the international market. Statistics reveal that there were six tigers in Manipur in 1984, but the figure rose to a record 31 in 1989.

No tiger census was conducted in the state in 1993 and 1997. However, the 2001-02 census report shocked every one — it said that there were no tigers left in Manipur. No census has been undertaken since then as the Manipur government has maintained that there are no tigers in the state.

“But investigations proved that tigers exist in Manipur’s Tamenglong district and are being killed by villagers to protect their domestic cattle,” the report said. “The Ibobi Singh government has been turning a blind eye to the killing of tigers in the state.”

Asked about the government’s failure in saving tigers in the state, a senior official said: “The Manipur government can’t even protect human lives, what can we say about animals?”

All these killings have taken place outside the reserve forests of Tamenglong. There are three wildlife reserve forests in the district, Bunning, Zeilad and Jiri Makru, which have become a haven for timber smugglers.

But villagers here kill the big cats mostly to save their cattle. “The cost of domestic cattle in the hill areas is very high. A buffalo costs Rs 15,000, cow Rs 10,000, pig Rs 5,000 and a hen as high as Rs 200,” the report said.

“Villagers complain of not receiving any compensation from the administration whenever their cattle are taken away by tigers. And to defend and protect their cattle, they are forced to kill tigers,” it said.

This shocking report comes just days after the Central government had announced that it would make the tiger conservation project more effective.

Wildlife experts warn the tiger population in India has sharply fallen due to poaching and say official figures that the country is home to some 4,000 tigers are highly exaggerated.

People in Manipur feel that only Prime Minister Manmohan Singh can now save their tigers before Manipur becomes another Sariska.

After reports of tigers disappearing from the Sariska tiger reserve in Rajasthan shocked the nation in 2004, the Prime Minister had ordered a CBI inquiry into the matter and later constituted a task force to prepare a report on the status of tigers in wildlife parks across the country.