A tigress died after it got caught in a snare in Kodagu district. The tigress, aged around 6, was found dead with serious injuries to its pelvis, at Kummatur village in Srimangala, near the Nagarahole Tiger Reserve.
This is the sixth tiger death this month in the Nagarahole and Bandipur region. Forest officials were informed by locals about the death around 11 a.m. on Sunday. The big cat is suspected to have died either on Friday or Saturday. They suspect that the injuries could have occurred elsewhere since no snare was found around the place where the carcass was found. The big cat died due to grave injuries by the snare, they say.
This is the second tiger death in Kodagu in the last few days because of injuries by snares, which were suspected to have been laid for killing wild boars.
The increase in the number of traps in Kodagu has become a cause of worry for the Forest Department, which said that laying snares to hunt animals was an offence under the wildlife laws.
Conservator of Forests Manoj Kumar told The Hindu that a case had been registered under Section 9 of the Wildlife Protection Act against unknown persons. Assistant Conservator of Forest Sripathi had been asked to investigate the death of the tigress.
Mr. Kumar said laying a snare was a cognizable and non-bailable offence under Section 51 of the Act, which attracts imprisonment up to three years. The tigress’ claws were intact, ruling out the poaching angle.
