A tiger was found dead in a canal of Telugu Ganga near Mittapalle Cheruvu of Allagadda in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh earlier this week.
According to forest officials, as the tiger’s carcass was floating in the canal, villagers informed local forest beat officers.
Speaking to TNM DFO Nandyal, Siva Shankar Reddy said, "We have received information about the cub floating in the waters. We have recovered the dead body and a post-mortem has been conducted. We are yet to receive the report."
Official said that the tiger was 3 years old and female. “No major injuries were spotted but we can't ascertain the reason before report comes," he said. TV reports, however, showed the tiger bleeding from its nose.
Siva Shankar has also said another tiger was found dead floating in another canal of the Telugu Ganga project in the same region. Reports also suggested that the tiger may have died hours before it was found.
The post-mortem was conducted as per the Wild-life Protection Act 1972.
In December 2017, forest officials captured a tiger using a tranquiliser near Veligodu in Kurnool area as it started venturing into the human settlements.
The forests fall under the limits of Nallamala forests which is one of the biggest in Andhra's Eastern Ghats. Earlier in March another tiger died in the Nallamala division. At that time officials have claimed that it died following an attack with another tiger. In the last six months as many as four tiger or leopard deaths were reported
According Mid-Day's report data released by Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), in the first quarter of the 2018 as many as 162 leopards and 36 tigers have died across the country.
While 37.04% of cases of leopard deaths was due to poaching, around 35% of tiger deaths occurred due to unnatural reasons, which include poaching, accidents and electrocution.