19.4.17

Tigress found dead in Pench

With one more tigress dead in Mansinghdeo Wildlife Sanctuary's Saleghat range, now part of Pench Tiger Reserve, India has lost as many as 32 tigers in just over three months. The latest death was the fourth in Pench since January. Official sources said on Tuesday that a highly decomposed carcass of a subadult tigress was found in the early hours in compartment number 697 in Ghatkukda beat. The area falls in Saleghat core, bordering West Pench. The carcass was about six days old.

Pench field director Ravikiran Govekar ruled out the possibility of poaching as all body parts of the tigress were found intact. “The wild cat 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,“ he said.

“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.

A tigresses was electrocuted outside Saleghat in Maharkund on a farm on January 13. Another, was found dead on January 14 in Tuyiapaar, while a male was found dead at Kolitmara in West Pench on February 15.

Of the 32 tiger deaths in India, 18 have been recorded inside tiger reserves or sanctuaries. National Tiger Conservation Authority figures say seven deaths were due to poaching. As many as 99 deaths were recorded in 2016.This year Karnataka, which has the highest number of tigers as per the 2014 estimation, lost 10 tigers followed by Uttarakhand (7), MP , (6), Maharashtra (4) and Assam (3).

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