Bengaluru, June 28 -- In what has emerged as one of the most alarming wildlife incidents in recent years, four tigers-including an adult tigress and her four cubs-were found dead in a single day in Karnataka. The incident has sent shockwaves across conservation circles, wildlife departments, and policy forums, sparking calls for urgent action as well as introspection.

The carcasses were discovered in the Hoogyam Range of the Male Mahadeshwara Hills Wildlife Division, Chamarajanagar circle-a region long regarded as critical tiger habitat. Karnataka, home to 563 tigers according to the last All India Tiger Estimation, is often lauded as a flagship success story of Project Tiger. Yet this very success comes with its own complexities: as pop...