Angul:
An expert team comprising members of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) Friday began a probe into a three-year-old tiger’s death at Satkosia reserve in Angul district, a forest department official said.
The NTCA and the WII will carry out a “thorough investigation” to ascertain the cause behind the death of Royal Bengal Tiger (RBT) ‘Mahavir’ at Satkosia, he said.
“Both the organisations have taken Mahavir’s death very seriously. They will find out if the animal died of natural causes or there were other reasons behind its demise,” the official said.
A male RBT, translocated from Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh, was found dead in the core area of the Satkosia Tiger Reserve Wednesday.
Shortly after it was spotted, the NTCA advised the Odisha government to temporarily halt the inter-state tiger translocation programme, as part of which six big cats were to be brought to the reserve from Madhya Pradesh.
Two of the six tigers – ‘Mahavir’ and ‘Sundari’ – were translocated to the sanctuary earlier this year.
The state’s forest department Thursday had also ordered a probe into the three-year-old RBT’s death following a postmortem examination, in accordance with the NCTA protocol, which mandated the presence of forest officials and other stakeholders.
“We have been fully cooperating with the visiting team in their investigation,” Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (wildlife) Sandeep Tripathy, said.
A maggot-infected wound, about six to eight days old, was spotted on the left side of the tiger’s neck, Tripathy said.
“We are waiting for a detailed post mortem report, but the initial investigation suggests that the infection on the RBT’s neck could have led to its death,” he said.
Earlier this month, the other translocated tiger, ‘Sundari’, was also tranquilised and shifted to an enclosure, after the local people alleged that it had mauled two persons to death.
Sundari seen perched on tree
Bantala: The captive tiger breeding programme in Satkosia sanctuary has been put on hold for the time being amid reports that ‘Mahavir’ died from wound infection, NTCA experts said Friday.
They further said that tigress Sundari hunted three animals in the last eight days and her movement and daily activities were found to be normal. It was observed that Sundari spends more time in water.
CCTV footage revealed that the tigress was found perched on a tree about 15 ft above the ground Friday afternoon Friday. Hence, all reports about the tigress falling ill are false.
PNN