Tiger killed in ‘territorial fight’ with another in Telangana forest

A female tiger died in a ‘territorial fight’ with another tiger in Kawal Tiger Reserve in Kumaram Bheem Asifabad district of Telangana.

The carcass of a tigress, aged less than two years, was found by the forest officials in Daregaon forest under Kagaznagar forest division.

The forest officials found pug marks of two tigers on the spot. They believe that the two tigers fought 5-6 days ago, which resulted in the death of one of them.

The veterinarians conducted a postmortem of the remains. District Forest Officer Niraj Kumar Tiberwal along with officials including two veterinary doctors conducted the investigation.

They also found marks indicating injuries on the neck and abdomen of the animal and also hair samples in the mouth of the deceased tigress, most probably of another tiger. The hair samples have been sent for further investigation.

The forest officials also found the right hind leg of the tigress fractured with sign of dried blood oozed from the injuries.

After the investigations, the officials did not find any evidence of hunting using snares, traps and electrocution. The veterinarians also ruled out any possibility of poisoning. Skin and other parts including nails of the animals were also found to be intact. Based on these observations and investigation, the team found this as a case of territorial fight between tigers.

Some samples collected from the body of the deceased tigress were sent to a laboratory in Hyderabad for further analysis.

Chief Conservator of Forest S. Shantaram along with senior officials visited the spot.

Kagaznagar forest division serves as a breeding ground for tigers, with migration from Tadoba Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra through the Pranahita river

The forest division is estimated to have at least eight tigers including five cubs.