Angul: The three-year-old Royal Bengal Tiger ‘Mahavir’ that was brought in to Satkosia Tiger Reserve from Kanha Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh and was found dead November 14 had fallen prey to poaching, preliminary investigation by a two-member Central team revealed.
Dr Amiya Mallick, Inspector General of Forest, National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and K Ramesh of Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in their report mentioned that tiger T1 also known as Mahavir died after it was caught in traps laid by poachers.
In the report submitted to NTCA chief Arup Nayak also mentioned, “T1 tiger got trapped in snare or other traps set up for wild pig in the area around Brahmi/Kharuani village November 9. Since the body was found November 14, it cannot be ruled out that the tiger might have got injured in his neck while trying to break the trap. Following that, the tiger died of multiple organ failure resulting from septicemia caused by the maggot-infested wound in its neck.”
“The case shall have to proceed with investigation accordingly for poaching. To emphasise, preliminary investigation based indicators of crime and multiple factors involved, indicate that the instant case is due to poaching,” the report further stated.
The report also clearly mentioned that the Bengal tiger had not died after killing a porcupine whose spine was found in its stomach during the postmortem.
The investigating team also ruled out tiger succumbing due to natural death or any possible infighting with another dominant male.
It may be worth mentioning here that ‘Mahavir’ was sedated in Kanha Tiger Reserve June 20 and was later relocated to Satkosia June 21. After a few days in Raiguda enclosure, the wild cat was released into the wild.
Meanwhile, Royal Bengal tigress ‘Sundari’ who is also part of the same inter-state tiger relocation program is currently spending her days in the Raiguda enclosure after being tranquilized November 6. The tigress has caused widespread fear amongst the locals after she allegedly mauled two people to death.
Sundari escaped many times despite repeated attempts made by the tranquilising team to sedate her. With no other option, kumki elephant ‘Yashoda’ was brought to Satkosia from Chandaka wildlife sanctuary in Bhubaneswar to assist in the operation following which the big cat successfully tranquilised after several days of relentless operation.
PNN