Death of tigress:special team formed

Field Director of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve Srinivas R. Reddy has formed a special team to nab those who have laid a snare in which an 18-month-old tigress got trapped and died on Sunday. The snare is believed to have been set to trap wild boars.

“We have some leads, and we expect to apprehend those responsible for setting traps in the reserve forest,” said Mr. Rajendran, Theppakadu forest ranger. A case has been registered under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

Forest veterinarian, E. Vijayaraghavan, performed a post-mortem examination of the carcass.

It is believed that the animal could have got separated from its mother recently.

Earlier, the animal was spotted near a watering hole in Imberallah of the Doddahatty section of the Theppakadu forest range on Sunday. It was even spotted by tourists during a safari conducted by the Forest Department the same day.

Forest officials said the animal was spotted around 11 a.m near the watering hole. But, it died around 1 p.m. before they could treat it. On Sunday tourists who were on a vehicle safari conducted by the Forest Department too had sighted the animal.