The latest death was the fourth in Pench since January. Earlier, one tigress was electrocuted outside Saleghat in Maharkund on a farm on January 13, another tigress was found dead on January 14 in Tuyiapaar and a male at Kolitmara in West Pench on February 15, all in the Maharashtra part of Pench.

Of the 32 tiger deaths in the country, 18 have been recorded inside tiger reserves or sanctuaries while the rest are from outside the park areas. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) official figures say seven tiger deaths were due to poaching. In January-December 2016, 99 tiger deaths were recorded. The number of 32 deaths in over three months this year is more than 25% of the total deaths last year.

This year, Karnataka, which has the highest number of tigers as per the 2014 estimation, lost 10 tigers followed by Uttarakhand (7), Madhya Pradesh (6), Maharashtra (4) and Assam (3).

Official sources said on Tuesday that the highly decomposed carcass of a sub-adult tigress was found in the wee hours in compartment number 697 in Ghatkukda beat. The area falls in Saleghat core, bordering West Pench. The carcass seems to be six days old, indicating staff must not be moving regularly in forest areas.

When the news reached Nagpur, acting Pench field director RavikiranGovekar, divisional forest officer (DFO) SB Bhalavi, representatives of NTCA and chief wildlife warden PrafullaBhamburkar and Sanjay Karkare, and wildlife veterinarian Dr GM Kadu and others rushed to the spot.

Govekar ruled out poaching as all the body parts of the tigress were intact. "It appears to be a sub-adult female. It may be possible that the wildcat must have engaged in a fight with another tiger while trying to explore a new area. Bones of the tigress were found to be broken. A post mortem report would give a clear picture," said Govekar.

"We also need to find out whether the tigress was one of the sub-adult cubs from the litter of the tigress that was electrocuted at a farm in Maharkund," said Govekar.