Seventh tiger found dead in Uttarakhand in over 3 months

India:  A body of an adult tigress was found in the Dachauri range of Ramnagar forest division on Friday.

The body was spotted by a forest department patrol. It was the seventh tiger which died in the hill state this year.

So many tigers dying in a span of just three and a half months has raised concerns among conservationists since Uttarakhand has a population of just 340 tigers, according to the last census conducted in 2014.

According to forest department officials, post-mortem findings indicated "old age" as the cause of death. They said no injury marks were found on the body. However, the department is yet to receive a physical copy of the post-mortem report.

Divisional forest officer, Ramnagar forest division, Neha Verma said, "The tigress was 12-year-old, which is almost the end of big cats' life cycle. However, initial findings of autopsy indicated that canine and incisor teeth of the tigress were broken and stomach was empty. All these suggest that old age and starvation caused death, though a copy of the post-mortem report will be available in three-four days."

Expressing his concern over unabated deaths of tigers in just three and a half months, Nainital-based environmentalist Anup Sah said, "As the post-mortem report is awaited, nothing can be said conclusively."

The body of tigress was cremated after post-mortem and collection of viscera samples for further tests according to guidelines by the National Tiger Conservation Authority. On March 31, a 10-year-old male tiger was found dead in Supurdali range of Dhikala Zone of Corbett Tiger Reserve.

Deaths of seven adult tigers, including today's fatality, have been reported in separate incidents in the state thus far this year due to causes ranging from territorial infighting to alleged poisoning to hunger.

The spate of deaths has set alarm bells ringing in the wildlife fraternity.

Earlier, a tiger which had killed two people in the Bailpadav forest range of Ramnagar division on March 16 and was captured by using JCB died on the same day. The post-mortem suggested infighting injuries, septicemia and asphyxiation as causes of death.

On February 22, a tiger was found dead in Chhoi village of Ramnagar in Terai West forest division of Kumaon. A day earlier, on February 21, a big cat was found dead in the Chidiyapur range of Haridwar forest division.

On Feb 16, a half-decomposed body of a male tiger was found in the Bailpadav range of Ramnagar in Nainital district. The autopsy indicated that the eight-year-old big cat of injuries received during a fight with another animal. Another tiger was found dead on January 19. According to the forest department, the tiger died of territorial infighting.

(Source: Times of India)