Foul play suspected in tiger's death

Chamarajanagara: There is a lot of suspicion surrounding the dead body of a tiger found in a lake in Kebbepur of Gundlupet taluk under Kundakera forest range of Bandipur Tiger Reserve. Usually wild animals die of heart attack when they are very tired and drink water. Apparently this was suspected to be the cause.

However, when the tiger carcass was lifted on Wednesday, wire was caught in its neck and legs, raising suspicions on the tiger killed by miscreants. It seems certain that a stone was tied to the tiger's leg with a steel wire and thrown into the lake. It is suspected that the dead tiger was brought to the lake and dumped there. The authorities are exploring the fact that the tiger may have been killed in some other way, as the post-mortem examination confirmed that it did not die due to snare trap.

Recently there was a lot of tiger menace around Kebbepur. In this regard, the locals had requested the Forest Department to capture the tiger. But people were outraged that no action was taken by the authorities. Now that the tiger is dead, it is suspected that someone killed it due to anger.

"The body rotted in the water of the lake for two-three days and the exact cause of death could not be found during the post-mortem examination. The organs have been sent to a laboratory in Bengaluru for examination," said wildlife doctor Wasim Mirza. It has been estimated that it was a young tiger aged around five years , so it cannot be said to be a natural death. After the post-mortem, carcass was cremated as per the instructions of NTCA," Bandipur tiger project director Ramesh Kumar informed.

On Tuesday the body of tiger was found , when a farmer went to the lake to give water to his cows, Later the locals informed the Forest Department. It was suspected that the tiger died of a heart attack while drinking water.