A tiger was found dead under a culvert at Balle in the D.B. Kuppe range of Nagarahole National Park due to injuries sustained in a freak accident.
The tiger’s carcass was found late on Sunday night and post-mortem and examination of the scene on Monday indicated that there were injuries on its face, which had a deep gnash near the eye, apart from internal haemorrhage due to shock or injury.
The injury itself is said to have been caused by a fall from a significant height while chasing another predator — suspected to be a leopard. D. Rajkumar representing the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to ascertain the actual sequence of events, told The Hindu that a territorial fight took place past midnight on Saturday at Balle.
“Forester Shekaraiah, who was asleep in his quarters, woke up with a start with the sound of terrifying growls followed by the rattling of the windows and shattering of the glass panes.
He panicked when there was movement on the roof top of his tiled house and screamed for help, following which RFO Vinaykumar and driver Krishna were alerted and informed of predators in the vicinity, according to Mr. Rajkumar.
On Sunday morning Shekaraiah, who ventured out of his house, found blood stains on the window and broken panes.
The Forest Department staff fanned out and combed Mastigudi, Barballe, and Kakanakote, but there was no trace of the animal. However, they stumbled upon a broken piece of canine, which was suspected to be that of a tiger. By evening, the forest guards and officials stumbled upon the carcass of the tiger at Karadihalla, below a culvert.
It is suspected that the leopard jumped to the rooftop to escape from the tiger, which persisted in chasing it, climbed a nearby mound of mud and heaved itself to reach the leopard only to come crashing down, its face injured by the edge of the window, while the leopard escaped.
“There were pug marks of the tiger on the mound and the gnash on the face was from the fall, which corroborates our suspicion,” said Mr. Rajkumar. Besides, the broken canine and a portion of its nails found nearby matched with the tiger, he added. “It is the first such death of a tiger I have witnessed since 2009,” he added.
