Idukki:Tiger’s carcass found in lake

Officials said they lost touch with the radio-collared animal since Saturday and had launched a search for it during which they found the animal’s carcass in Thekkady lake.

The carcass of a tiger captured on October 6 after the animal strayed into human dwellings in Munnar and releasedthree days later in Periyar tiger reserve was found in a lake in Thekkady in Idukki district, forest officials said on Sunday.

As per the initial investigation, the animal might have drowned but the exact cause can be ascertained only after post-mortem, an official familiar with the developments said. (Representational photo)

Officials said they lost touch with the radio-collared animal since Saturday and had launched a search for it during which they found the animal’s carcass in Thekkady lake. As per the initial investigation, the animal might have drowned but the exact cause can be ascertained only after post-mortem, an official familiar with the developments said.

“We will inform the national tiger conservation authority about the death and will go by its directives,” said a senior official, who did not want to be named.

They said the big cat had developed cataract in one of the eyes and was given primary treatment before being released. The wild cat was trapped after it killed many domestic animals in Neymakkad area in Munnar. Angry residents, mainly tea plantation workers, had launched an agitation forcing the forest department to cage the animal.

Meanwhile, another wild elephant was found dead after it was hit by a train in Palakkad district on Thursday. This was the second jumbo to get killed after being hit by the Kanyakumari-Dibrugarh Vivek Express near Kanjikkode along Kerala-Tamil Nadu border on last Friday.