Two tigers found dead in Melghat

The Hindu , Saturday, June 04, 2016
Correspondent : ARUNANGSU ROY CHOWDHURY
Two tigers were found dead in the Melghat Tiger Reserve in Amravati in Maharashtra’s Vidarbha district. “We found the bodies of a tiger and a tigress on May 22 and May 27,” Dinesh Kumar Tyagi, Chief Conservator of Forest and Field Director of Melghat Tiger Reserve, told The Hindu over the phone. “The death might have occurred much earlier than that, but we found the bodies late as the location was close to their den in the core area of the forest. The dead tigress was found at her den, and the tiger’s body was found lying near a creek near Vairat in the hilly region of the Chikaldhara range of the forest.”

Mr. Tyagi said there was no injury found on either animal, and both bodies were intact, which indicate this was not a case of poaching. But, he said, “We would like to rule out poisoning, but for that we need to receive the viscera report. In many cases, the forest villagers try to poison the animals by keeping poisonous food out as animals disturb their life in many ways.” Forest officials suspect that the summer heat could have affected the animals. As per India Meteorological Department (IMD) Nagpur data, day-time temperatures in the region were above 45°C at that time. The two animals were aged over eight years, so MrTyagi says there is a possibility that they could have died of a combination of age and heat. “This would only be confirmed after the investigation reports reach us.”

The bodies were taken to the laboratories of the state’s animal husbandry division for further investigation.

As per 2015 data, the Melghat Reserve Forest had about 42 tigers. The deaths of these two animals are a cause of concern for the forest administration. According to Mr. Tyagi, the Special Tiger Protection Force of Melghat, a security force created last year, has cordoned off the two spots where the tigers were found, and has begun a scan of the entire reserve forest, aside from outreach with residents of villages in the area as part of their investigations into the deaths.

 
SOURCE : http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-miscellaneous/tp-others/two-tigers-found-dead-in-melghat/article8689352.ece
 


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