The roar of a majestic tiger was silenced by poisoning in Rajasthan's Ranthambhore National Park, according to a forensic report. More alarming is the revelation that the park officials had not filed the mandatory FIR and dismissed the tiger's death as a result of its fight with another striped cat. But there is also cause for cheer at Ranthambhore as the park has three more cubs, courtesy of tigress T-13.
With these new arrivals, the tiger population in Ranthambhore now stands at 58, including 33 cubs aged up to three years.
Forensic reports of the dead tiger, whose carcass was found on December 23, 2012, pointed out that the tiger was poisoned, sources said. The possibility of poaching could not be ruled out, they added.
Ranthambhore officials had not filed the mandatory FIR when the carcass was found in Khandar region. They not only failed to identify the tiger, but also attributed its death to a fight with another big cat even before the post mortem and viscera examinations were completed. "As maggots had eaten up a major portion of the carcass, the cause of death couldn't be ascertained," the then divisional forest officer had said. The sex could not be determined either as the rear portion was missing.
As per the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) guidelines, the park officials are mandated to file an FIR irrespective of the cause of a tiger's death, Dhirendra Godha, a member of the state wildlife board, said.
The park officials had claimed that the carcass could be of T-27, which has been missing for more than two years. Several tiger experts had dismissed the forest department's explanation and alleged it was an attempt to hush up the incident. It is not the first such incident in the Khandar region of Ranthambhore. In March 2010, two cubs were killed due to poisoning in the Talera range. The same year in November, another tiger, T-1, fell prey to poisoning in Sariska reserve.
Meanwhile, Ranthambhore's tiger population has received a boost after 'T-13' gave birth to the three cubs. The new arrivals were confirmed by pictures taken by cameratraps at Halonda-Antri region.
The tigress has earlier given birth to five cubs (T-38 and T-39 in 2008, T-49 and T-50 in 2010 and T-66 in 2012). The park officials came to know about the three cubs only two days ago despite the fact that the pictures were taken on December 8. "The incident suggested that management of the park needs a lot of improvement," Rajpal Singh, a member of the state wildlife board, said.
