Tigress, sub-adult male found dead in Gudalur; poisoning suspected
Near where the two tigers were found dead, a wild boar's corpse was found. As the tigers had eaten the boar's flesh and then died, officials suspect the presence of a poisonous substance in the prey's body.
Two tigers were found dead in Gudalur
COIMBATORE: A tigress and a sub-adult male were found due to suspected poisoning in the Bitherkad area in Gudalur Range in the Nilgiris on Tuesday. The female tigress, believed to be the male's mother, was around ten years old, while the sub-adult male was around three years old.
On receiving information from the public, forest department staff led by Gudalur Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) N Venkatesh Prabhu rushed to the spot and found a sub-adult male lying dead on the pathway to a private estate. As per the National Tiger Conservation Authority’s (NTCA) standard operating procedure (SOP), which considers a 500 metre radius as a crime scene, the staff perambulated the area, an official said.
"At an aerial distance of around 75 metres, a female tigress, believed to be its mother, was found dead in a swampy marsh area within the estate. External injuries with blood were found on the carcasses of both the animals,” the official noted.
However, a post-mortem exam, conducted by Mudumalai Tiger Reserve veterinarian Rajesh Kumar in the presence of NGOs, as per the NTCA protocol, suggested that both the tigers could have died of poisoning.
“Around 200 metres from the spot, a wild boar was spotted dead and its flesh was consumed by the two tigers. It is suspected that the wild boar may have died after consuming some poisonous substance, and when the tigers preyed on it, they too succumbed," the official stated.
Visceral samples have been sent for laboratory analysis in Chennai to ascertain the exact cause of death while two forest department teams were deployed to check the spot for evidence.
The forest department has booked a case under the Wildlife Protection Act and an inquiry is under way in nearby settlements by multiple teams.
After the post-mortem exam, the carcasses of both the animals was consigned to flames.
Last year, a man who killed a tiger in the Emerald area of the Nilgiris Forest Division in retaliation for the animal having killed his cow was arrested by the forest department.
