Tiger found dead, territorial fight suspected

CHANDRAPUR: A partially decomposed carcass of a fully grown tiger was found in the Junona forest range under West Chanda division of Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM) on the outskirts of Chandrapur town around 3 km deep into the jungle, on Saturday evening. Initial probe has revealed that the tiger might have been killed in a territorial fight with another tiger.

Forest officials said that the guard on patrolling duty in compartment no. 482 of Junona range of FDCM sighted the carcass after tracking foul smell in the vicinity. Regional manager, North Chandrapur circle, FDCM Sheshrao Patil confirmed the death of the tiger, but ruled out the possibility of poaching. "It was a fully grown male tiger (aged around 7-8 years). All the body parts of the tiger were intact and we have found no signs of poaching. It is likely that the tiger died due to injuries caused during a territorial fight with another tiger," he said.

Inquest and postmortem were carried out on Sunday. Dozens of youths from Chandrapur and Junona rushed to the spot in the morning to have a glimpse of the dead tiger on Sunday.

Senior forest officials including regional manger Patil, CFO and field director, TATR, Vinay Sinha, divisional manager, FDCM West Chanda, Raut, ACF TF Durge, ACF, TATR, Ajay Pillariseth visited the spot and searched the jungle to locate signs of another tiger and the place of scuffle.

Forest department staffers claimed that they have measured the length of the tiger (tip to tail) 2.60 metres (around 11 feet). They discovered several pugmarks and scrap marks of tiger on the jungle trail and the nullah passing through nearby. "We have discovered some pugmarks in the area around the carcass. Their comparison with the pug marks of dead tiger would help to identify the presence of another tiger in the same area," said forest officials.

Post-mortem was carried out by veterinary doctor PD Kadukar in the presence of representative of NTCA, Kishor Rithe and senior forest officers on the spot in the afternoon. Dr Kadukar said, "The body of the beast was petrified suggesting that tiger had died more than 72 hours before. We have found some linear injury marks that could have been caused by nails of another tiger. Moreover, the left fore limb of the beast was dislocated, suggesting that it might have died due to injuries caused during fight with another tiger."

He said that they have gathered samples of viscera to be sent to forensic laboratory to check possibilities of the poisoning. The wildlife activists, who visited the spot, expressed concern over lapses in patrolling as the body was discovered more than two days after the death. They also stressed immediate need of identification and location of the other tiger that had moved into the territory. The body of the tiger was later cremated on the same spot.