Hyderabad: Four forest officials who were on the Munnanoor forest beat in Mahbubnagar district were suspended on Thursday after an eight-year-old tiger was found dead with all its four legs chopped off, in the Rajiv Gandhi Tiger Reserve in the Nallamala forest region.
The forest officers were suspended by Srisailam field director Rahul Shinde. Forest officials think that the tiger could have been killed four or five days ago but won’t talk about the cause of death until the post-mortem report is in.
Principal chief conservator of forests B.S.S. Reddy, confirmed the death and said that a team has been sent to the site to investigate the death and a preliminary report will be submitted on Friday.
Poachers are most likely to have committed the crime as the legs of the beast were chopped off. Poachers usually hunt tigers for their nails and skin.
Additional principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) D.K. Pandey said, “The tiger was found dead in the Nallamala forest area. But whether it died of poisoning or by itself can only be ascertained after the post-mortem report is received.”
Meanwhile, a leopard was injured on Thursday after being hit by an unidentified vehicle on the Dornala Srisailam road in Prakasam district. The injured tiger was taken to a hospital by forest authorities and is being treated.
