Officials say tiger’s death in Bandipur reserve unnatural

The forest officers, who rushed to the spot, initially suspected that the big cat died of cardiac arrest after it attempted to drink water when tired, as they found the carcass floating on the water.

Bandipur forest officers on Thursday confirmed that the tiger’s death in Mallayyana Katte lake in Kebbepura village in Gundlupet taluk, Chamarajanagar was unnatural.

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The officers said the carcass was found in the Kundakere range forest of Bandipur Tiger Reserve on Tuesday.

The forest officers, who rushed to the spot, initially suspected that the big cat died of cardiac arrest after it attempted to drink water when tired, as they found the carcass floating on the water.

On Wednesday, while removing the carcass, officials found that stone was tied with iron rope to the tiger’s legs and neck.

According to forest officers, the tiger died at another place around four days back and was thrown in the lake to hide the death. However, the carcass floated after three days, they added.

‘’The tiger is aged about five years and died around four days back after it was found in the lake. As the body was decomposed the exact reason for death is not known,” veterinary doctor Dr Wasim Mirza said.

The organs were sent to Mysuru and Bengaluru FSL, and the exact reason for death will be known after getting the report, he added.

‘’The veterinarians ruled out the tiger died of snare trap as no sign was found. The age of the tiger is five years, and natural death at this age is impossible,” said investigation officer and Bandipura ACF G Ravindra.

The forest department formed a special team to conduct a probe under the leadership of Bandipura tiger reserve field director Ramesh Kumar on Thursday.

ACF Ravindra said, “The farmers, earlier, complained of tiger menace around Kebbepura, and we have installed CCTV trap cameras to trace the tiger. We are probing if any poisonous chicken was fed to the big cat.”

He suspected that the miscreants killed the tiger on private land and threw the body into the lake by transporting it.