A tigress was found dead on Monday in Umred Pauni Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary in Maharashtra’s Bhandara district, PTI reported. Another tiger was found dead in the sanctuary on Sunday.
Field Director of Pench-Tadoba Reserve Ravikiran Govekar said that the body of the tigress was found early on Monday during a field search operation by forest staff in the Paoni wildlife range of the sanctuary. Govekar said the carcass of the tigress was found close to the spot where a tiger was found dead on Sunday.
Govekar said the tigress was T4, while the tiger was T16. “The death of both the big cats might have taken place around the same time,” Govekar said. “A semi-eaten body of a pig was also found nearby.”
The field director said more details would emerge only after the standard operating procedure laid down by the National Tiger Conservation Authority is completed.
Pench Tiger Reserve Divisional Forest Officer Rahul Gavai told The Times of India that the area surrounding the sanctuary has a history of unnatural deaths of animals. “Considering this, the forest department will be looking into all aspects of the case including suspected revenge killing,” Gavai said about the death of the T16 tiger on Sunday.
At least 20 tigers have died in Maharashtra this year. Madhya Pradesh recorded the most with 23 tiger deaths.
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