New Delhi, Feb. 5 -- The year 2021 has not begun on a good note for the royal big cats with at least 16 of them, including three cubs, dying in the first month of January itself. On an average a striped cat succumbed to various reasons such as injuries, territorial fights, speeding vehicles, human-animal conflicts and poisoning every second day.

Maharashtra topped the list with the death of six big cats closely followed by Madhya Pradesh where five tigers died in the said period, as per data available from the Tigernet, an official database of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, a statutory body under the Union Environment Ministry.

At least ten big cats were found dead outside their protected habitat, suggesting that either they...