Tigress ‘poisoned' to death in Assam National Park

Carcass detected by staff in a dense patch of vegetation

A Royal Bengal tigress of the Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park, about 150 km from here, is suspected to have been poisoned to death by miscreants.

Mangaldai Wildlife Divisional Forest Officer Sushil Kr. Daila told The Hindu on Monday that the five-year-old tigress was found dead near the Panchnoi river under Camp No.2 of the Park around 4 p.m. on Saturday.

The carcass was detected by the camp staff in a dense patch of tora vegetation while patrolling on foot. It bore no injury marks and nothing unusual was noticed at the spot, less than a kilometre from the Park boundary.

Area searched

The entire area was searched using elephants and on foot but nothing was found, he added.

The carcass was brought to the Range headquarters and the post-mortem and disposal was carried out in accordance with the protocol.

The post-mortem report cited suspected poisoning as the cause of death but has recommended forensic examination for confirmation.

Samples of vital organs have been collected and will be sent to the State Forensic Science Laboratory in Guwahati on Tuesday.

Alert sounded

“A high alert has been sounded in the entire National Park following the death,” Mr. Daila said.

The post-mortem team comprises Mr. Daila, Range Officer Salim Ahmed, representative of the National Tiger Conservation Authority Firoz Ahmed, representative of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau Kishore Sarma, government veterinary surgeon Govinda Kalita and local NGO Otters.

Buffalo calf

Around 4 a.m. on Monday, the Park staff arrested a person from Nichlamari village for keeping captive in his house a wild buffalo calf born a couple of days ago just outside the Park boundary.