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Forest guards gun down tiger in ‘self defence’ near Kaziranga park
P Sivakumar, KNPTR director, said the 10-year-old male tiger strayed away from the park and killed a cow in a nearby village on Thursday.
The carcass of a tiger, suspected to have been killed in accidental firing by forest officials as they tried to scare him away from a village, was found on the outskirts of the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR) in Assam on Friday, officials said.
According to a statement by the forest department, the carcass was found at 7.10am by forest personnel near Japoripathar in the Karuabari area on the periphery of KNPTR. “On enquiry, it was found that the tiger died due to a bullet wound, suspected to be [from] accidental firing while trying to scare away the tiger from the public area,” the statement added.
P Sivakumar, KNPTR director, said the 10-year-old male tiger strayed away from the park and killed a cow in a nearby village on Thursday.
A team of forest personnel was sent to the area to scare away the animal and direct it back to the park, he said. “Preliminary investigation revealed that the tiger attacked our team and a bullet fired in self-defence by a forest personnel accidentally hit the animal...,” he said.
The forest department has ordered an inquiry to probe the incident, Sivakumar said, adding: “If there was any lapse on the part of forest personnel in the incident that led to the tiger’s death, proper action would be taken.” A post-mortem was conducted and the results are awaited.
This is the third tiger death to be reported from the national park this year.
Earlier this month, the carcass of a four-year-old tiger was found at Sidha Kathani area of the park. Officials said there were multiple injury marks on the tiger’s body and they suspected that he died after sustaining grievous injuries during a fight with another tiger.
A female tiger cub’s body was found with puncture marks on the neck and broken ribs in February this year. Forest officials said that the cub, just over 4 months old, may have been killed by an adult tiger.
