NAINITAL: The body of an adult male tiger was found in Chhoi village of Ramnagar in Terai West forest division of Kumaonon Wednesday, the second instance of a big cat death in the state within two days. On Tuesday, a tiger estimated to be 10 years old, was found dead in the Chidiyapur range of Haridwar forest division.
Wildlife activists alleged that the animal was poisoned by the Gujjar community living in the buffer zone of the range although forest officials claimed that the death was because of septicemia -- a bacterial infection of the blood. Wednesday's death meanwhile was attributed to be a fall out of a territorial dispute between two tigers. "The findings of the post-mortem report clearly indicate injuries inflicted in a territorial fight," said Subhash Chandra, divisional forest officer, Terai West.
He added that the mating season for tigers was going on, and a fight may have broken out between the two tigers over a female.
Eyewitnesses said that injury marks of claws were found all over the half-decomposed body of the dead big cat and teeth marks could also be observed near its neck and forelimbs.
Since the beginning of this year, deaths of four adult tigers (including Wednesday's fatality) have been reported in separate incidents in the state. On January 19, the carcass of a male tiger was found in the Bailpadav range of Ramnagar in Nainital district. Almost a month later, on February 16, the half-decomposed body of another male tiger, around 8-9 years old was found almost 20 km away from the spot where the earlier tiger's body was recovered. Forest officials said that both the cats had died after being involved in a territorial fight.
The spate of deaths has set alarm bells ringing in the wildlife fraternity especially since the state has a population of just 340 tigers as per the last census conducted in 2014. In 2015, 11 big cat deaths were reported in Uttarakhand whereas last year, the toll stood at 14. This year has already seen an average of two deaths in a month.
AG Ansari, Ramnagar-based conservationist said that the deaths are "worrisome but the factors responsible seem to be natural causes which are unavoidable." "Territorial fights seem to be the primary cause of the deaths. These cannot be avoided since the tiger is essentially a territorial animal. However, we must safeguard and minimise deaths occuring due to other reasons like accidents and poaching."
