Tiger strangulated itself in fencing wire, say officials

TO Abraham, TNN | Nov 22, 2011, 03.19AM IST YAVATMAL: The three-year-old male tiger which was trapped in the fencing wires of a farm, died due to strangulation and not poisoning or hunting, according to forest officials. However, sources told TOI that the tiger got entangled in the wire trap, meant for wild boar and herbivores. The incident occurred in a farm in Bodh Bahatar village under the Patan Bori forest range of Pandharkawda tehsil of Yavatmal district on Sunday. "The incident might have been occurred in early morning hours but was noticed at around 4pm," informed the Chief Conservator of Forest (CCF) Devendra Kumar of Yavatmal, who was personally present during the post mortem. "The carcass of the wild beast is intact. It is neither poisoning nor hunting," he added. The villagers have put up strong iron wire mesh to fence their farms, to protect crops from the herbivores. The tiger might have got trapped between the wires and in the struggle to get out of it, strangulated itself, Kumar said. The village is over 200 metres down the boundaries of the Tipeshwar wild life sanctuary. However, sources in the forest department indicated that this was a real case of poaching due to wire trap. The post mortem of the beast was conducted by a panel of veterinary doctors including Dr Harsh Dhanvate of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) of Nagpur, on Monday. ''As per the guidelines of NTCA of India, post mortem of a tiger should be performed by a panel of veterinary doctors, one of whom must be from NTCA," Kumar said. He added that the Project Director of Pench Tiger Reserve and CCF wild life Ashraf Arakal from Nagpur, DCF of Pandharkawda DB Shrikande, and ACF HL Kamble were present during the post mortem of the beast. The carcass of the tiger was burned and the autopsy report is awaited, he added. When asked about the death toll of tigers in the district, Kumar said, "This is the first incident and it happened accidentally. We have the record of 3-4 leopard deaths in different parts of the district." He added that in normal cases, Tipeshwar is not the habitat of tigers. "But we have been noticing the presence of tigers in Tipeshwar sanctuary for the last 3-4 years. They might have migrated from the forest of the adjoining district of Chandrapur," he said. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Tiger-strangulated-itself-in-fencing-wire-say-officials/articleshow/10823185.cms