Tigress dies in Madhya Pradesh after radio-collar infection

T4, the tigress raised in captivity and known for being part of a successful path-breaking breeding experiment, died of an infection caused by its radio-collar at Panna Tiger Reserve, officials said on Friday.

Updated on: Sep 19, 2014, 23:22:15 IST

Hindustan Times | By Neeraj Santoshi, Bhopal

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T4, the tigress raised in captivity and known for being part of a successful path-breaking breeding experiment of a translocated tigress, died of an infection caused by its radio-collar at Panna Tiger Reserve, officials said on Friday.

A-dead-tigeress-found-at-Panna-Tiger-Reserve-on-Friday-morning-She-died-because-of-the-wound-caused-by-the-radio-collar-HT-photo

The hand-reared tigress was found dead by the forest officials after they detected mortality signal — signal emitted by the radio-collar when animals are inactive for a long period — from T4 at 6.45pm on Thursday, said officials at the Panna Tiger Reserve (PTR).

On Friday, a PTR team tracking the tigress found it dead near Madla range, they said.

Forest officials said T4 could have died due to an infection caused by the radio-collar.

"The officials couldn't detect tightening of the collar as there was no apparent change in T4's behaviour and signals were also coming properly," state principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) Narinder Kumar told HT.

"But the details regarding how she died will come only after post mortem results come."

According to wildlife officials, T4 was a 15-day-old orphaned tiger cub found along with two other siblings when her mother was killed at Kanha reserve in May 2006.

The park officials picked up the litter of three cubs and hand reared them with a plan to reintroduce them into the wild.

T4 was first among them to be picked up for this task and Panna was selected to experiment this new window of tiger conservation.

The hand-reared tigress was reintroduced at Panna reserve where it struggled in the initial months. Another tiger T3 helped her to learn the art of hunting in the wild and her re-wilding process.

T4 later delivered two cubs in mid November 2011.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Santoshi
Neeraj Santoshi is the Chief of Bureau for Hindustan Times in Uttarakhand, where he leads the state reporting team while covering government, politics, environment, wildlife, Uttarakhand High Court, and issues shaping the Himalayan region. With more than two decades in journalism across conflict zones, he has covered politically sensitive regions and environmentally fragile landscapes, and focused on stories that combine public interest with in-depth storytelling. An alumnus of Pune University with a Master’s in Communication Studies, he has reported extensively from Jammu & Kashmir (2003-2010), Madhya Pradesh (2010 to 2018 ) and Uttarakhand (Since 2018), covering subjects ranging from insurgency, elections and governance to wildlife conservation, mining, climate change, agriculture, human rights and social justice. He has covered politics and legislative assemblies of both Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh over more than a decade. Before taking over as Chief of Bureau in Uttarakhand, he served as Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in Madhya Pradesh and earlier reported for both Hindustan Times and The Indian Express in Jammu & Kashmir, where he covered state politics, environment and insurgency-related developments. Over the years, his stories have focused on environmental degradation, wildlife, illegal mining, governance and the changing social fabric of Himalayan states and Central India. He is particularly interested in long-form explanatory journalism, and stories that explore the intersection of ecology, conservation, governance and society. Outside the newsroom, Neeraj enjoys reading widely on neuroscience, consciousness studies, Artificial Intelligence and quantum physics, with a special interest in Kashmiri Tantric Shaivist traditions. He is also passionate about wildlife, mountaineering and the Himalayas, interests that continue to inform his reporting and deepen his understanding of the region he covers.Read More

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