Shahdol: In another shocker for wildlife lovers and authorities, tiger population suffered yet another jolt as another big cat was found dead in Shahdol district of Madhya Pradesh under mysterious circumstances on Saturday.
This is sixth tiger mortality since January 2018 and whopping 61st demise since the year 2016 when the state had lost 30 tigers in calendar year.
Meanwhile, the fresh casualty was reported from village Devahara in Jaitahari block of Shahdol district, around 550 km from state capital Bhopal on Saturday morning at around 6am.
The carcass, presumably belonging to an adult tiger aged around five years, lied dead in the agriculture land belonging to a local farmer in village Devahara, around 8km from block headquarters this morning. A local resident spotted the dead big cat and intimated the forest department.
On this, Range Officer accompanied by his staff reached the spot.
However, senior officers and veterinary expert took several hours to reach the place and start an investigation. In between a huge crowd gathered on the spot and started clicking selfies tampering vital pieces of evidence of its death in the process.
Sources in forest department claimed that the big cat is aged around five years and suffered mild electric shock. The skull also carried an injury mark and the big cat was bleeding from nose which suggested that it could have been assaulted by a heavy object.
“The exact cause would be ascertained once the autopsy is performed on Sunday,” an officer from the forest department said adding the feline perhaps belonged to nearby Sanjay Dubri Tiger Reserve and was trapped in cameras recently.
The Shahdol-Umaria region was in limelight in the second half of last year after it reported four big cat deaths including a cub.
After the state reported presence of 308 striped cats in 2014, efforts were intensified for putting MP back on number one spot in terms of tiger population. However, the mortalities reported in the state suggest otherwise.
In the year 2016, the state reported the death of 30 tigers, highest in India, and in 2017; the state lost 25 big cats again clinching the dubious topmost spot among states in tiger mortalities. With the state already reporting half a dozen deaths in January, the toll has reached 61 since 2016.
Among other reasons – electrocution by illegally powered farm fences and poaching of big cats for vital organs used in witchcraft have emerged as prominent causes that are killing tigers in MP.
“The situation is alarming but the complacency of state forest department and NTCA is baffling and painful at the same time,” said one of the former Madhya Pradesh Chief Wildlife Wardens adding the department seems to have turned a blind eye towards all these deaths.
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