Madhya Pradesh, which boasts of having the coveted title of being a 'Tiger State' in the country, has lost one more tiger. The recent casualty among the striped cats was reported from Bandhavgarh National Park (Umaria). An aged tiger's body was recovered inside the park on Thursday evening.
Park Field Director Assem Srivastava has informed that the tiger's (aged around 12 years) body was recovered by a park patrolling party on Thursday evening from Tala range. The director has informed that the big cat had died probably 5-6 days back and its body was decomposed to a great extent. Nothing concrete was revealed regarding the cause behind the death in the autopsy as the body had decomposed and several organs were destroyed in the process.
Srivastava denied possibilities of causes of death other than a natural one, by saying that no signs were received, which could point towards reasons like poaching, poisoning or traps. The director informed that the autopsy was conducted in the presence of wildlife expert Dr AB Srivastava, who was nominated by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) as per the newly laid norms.
Srivastava however declined speculations that the deceased big cat was a tigress. He also informed that as per the autopsy report, the tiger's stomach was empty. He claimed that considering the age of the big cat, the death could be attributed to natural reasons.
Locals however have expressed surprise that there were only three male big cats in the park and all of them were alive so how come this fourth tiger had died in Tala range.
The Park director on the population of big cats in the park has informed that there were on an average 47 tigers in the park. Srivastava claimed that this figure was revealed during the census conducted in 2006. Though he agreed that several tigers have died inside the park after 2006, but he claimed that tiger cubs have also born in this period.
