NAGPUR: Even as the country celebrated International Day of Forests on Sunday, a tigress was found dead under mysterious circumstances in a canal near Kelzar in Hingni forest range under Wardha division.
The death of two tigers on consecutive days and three in eight days caused a flutter among wildlife lovers and officials. Social media was agog with sharp reactions putting a question mark over conservation.
As per the all-India Tiger Estimation 2018, there are 312 tigers in the state.
Experts say the tigress is said to be 15-month-old sub-adult, one of the offspring of a resident Bor tigress Ambika aka T1. The latest death has pushed the tiger toll in Maharashtra in the last 79 days to 11.
On Saturday, an eight-month-old tiger cub was found dead inside Umred-Karhandla-Paoni Wildlife Sanctuary.
“The spot, where the female sub-adult was found dead on Sunday, is around 15km from the boundary of Bor and officials are verifying whether the tiger that died was from the park. There is presence of tigers in a defunct explosives factory in Kelzar too,” said forest officials.
Quoting post-mortem report by wildlife veterinarians, acting deputy conservator of forest (DyCF), Wardha, Tushar Dhamdhere, claimed the animal was a four-year-old tigress. DFO (wildlife) Rahul Gavai said, “We are still matching pictures from Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and data bank with us and only then can confirm the identity of the tigress.”
Dhamdhere ruled out foul play as all body parts were intact. “However, veterinarians opined there were some changes in the intestine. They ruled out electrocution. We are sending samples to the Regional Forensic Laboratory, Nagpur, for histopathology and toxicological tests to know the exact cause of death,” said Dhamdhere.
He said, “According to residents, the area where the animal was found dead is not inhabited by big cats. It is quite possible that the tiger must have fallen into six-feet deep canal of Bor dam and must not have been able to come out and drowned.”
Of the 11 tiger deaths since January 1, 2021, six were reported from Umred-Karhandla alone, two from Wardha division, one each was found dead in Sipna division in Melghat and another in Bhadravati range.