Death due to violent fight with another tiger
Nagpur: A male Tiger was killed in South Brahmapuri Range on Tuesday i.e. August 9, 2016. The Forest Department officials received information of its death on Wednesday morning i.e. August 10, 2016. Immediately the Forest Department officials rushed to the spot and seized the carcass of the dead Tiger and brought the tiger for post-mortem.
The carcass of the Tiger was retrieved from Padampur Beat-Buj Round. The body of the deceased Tiger had several marks of nails and teeth of tiger. Prima facie it appeared as if the Tiger died of multiple-organ failure. The manner in which the deceased Tiger was found, it could be deduced that the Tiger had a fight with some other Tiger.
The last known location of the deceased Tiger was recorded as 7:41 pm of August 9, 2016. After nearly 6 hours of that the Forest Department received the mortality alert. The Forest Department officials immediately started the search operation and retrieved the carcass of the deceased Tiger.
According to the officials of the Forest Department, the deceased Tiger was a Sub Adult and is three years of age.
A sub adult of a tiger (Panthera tigris) is one which has become independent but is not yet reproductive. For tigers, independence occurs when they leave the mother. A Tiger becomes independent at 18-36 months but doesn’t reach sexual maturity until 3-4 years for females and 4-5 years for males.
The Wild Life Institute of India had fitted Radio Collar on June 4, 2016 on this majestic beast. According to Divisional Forest Officer (Wild-Life) Girish Dutt Vashisht, the manner in which the carcass was retrieved, it is clear that the Tiger died because of fatal injuries incurred in a fight with another Tiger. Usually a tiger does not like the entry of another tiger in its territory.
A team of Veterinary Doctors performed Post-Mortem in the presence of Forest Officials. Though it was clear that the death was most likely due to the fatal injuries incurred during the violent territorial fight with another tiger, the Forest Department wanted to ascertain and negate other causes of death.
