A staggering 420 lives have been lost to wild animal attacks in Maharashtra over the last five years, with more than half of these tragedies attributed to tiger encounters, according to state Forest Minister Ganesh Naik.
In a report delivered to the legislative council, Chandrapur district emerged as the hardest hit, witnessing 47 deaths in 2025 alone. A substantial financial aid sum of Rs 8.27 crore has been allocated to support the families affected by these incidents.
Emphasizing the gravity of the man-animal conflict, innovative strategies, including Artificial Intelligence, are being considered to curb such events. Yet, not all suggestions are aligned, as seen in the rejection of a proposal to release stray city dogs into forests to deter tiger movements.