Poisoned Cattle Kill Claims Territory Holding Male Tiger

ADILABAD: A poisoned carcass of a cattle has been confirmed as the reason that led to the death of a large male tiger, identified as S9, in the Darigaon forest of Komaram Bheem Asifabad district. Tiger S9 had fathered four cubs which have reached sub-adulthood; one of these cubs, a female, was found dead in the same area, less than a kilometre away, on Monday.

S9, reported to be aged between five and six years, is believed to have died a week ago. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) R.M. Dobriyal said after visiting the site on Tuesday. The carcass was found on Monday.

“A close inspection showed that the tiger was poisoned, it had all the characteristics of a poisoned kill. The body was not fully decomposed, maggots were dying and there were also some dead flies. Tissue samples have been taken and are being sent for forensic examination,” Dobriyal said.

Dobriyal was accompanied by M.C. Pargaein, PCCF-wildlife and Chief Wildlife Warden, Kawal tiger reserve field director S. Shantharam, divisional forest officer (DF0) Neeraj Tibrewal and veterinary doctors. After conducting a post-mortem of S9, and collecting samples from it and the cattle carcass, the remains of both were cremated as per National Tiger Conservation Authority protocol.

Dobriyal said the poisoning was clearly a deliberate act to kill tigers moving in the area, as no one had come forward to claim cattle kill compensation. The police have registered an FIR and investigation is on to try and identify the culprits, he said.

Dorbiyal also said camera traps installed by the forest department had captured images of Tiger S9 feeding on the cattle carcass, but did not specify when the images were captured.

The cattle kill was reported on December 30, after which some camera traps were placed overlooking it to see if the tigers would return to feed on it.

According to DFO Tibrewal, while indications were that the dead cattle, an ox, was poisoned, only a test of the sample can confirm it officially. The fur samples collected from the mouth of the dead one-and-a-half year old sub-adult cub of S9, along with the animal’s fur samples, have been sent to Hyderabad based Laboratory for Conservation of Endangered Species for identification.

The rest of the samples from the two dead tigers will be either sent to Telangana police’s Forensic Science Laboratory or to other labs specialising in wildlife forensics, he said.

While the area has been cordoned off, Dobriyal said efforts were on to locate the mother and the three other cubs of S9 and 50 animal trackers were on the job.

“We have installed around 50 camera traps. If need be, we will will get more animal trackers from other districts,” he said. The tiger family had made the forest part of its territory and were sighted regularly, he added.

The forest is about 8 km from Kagaznagar town and falls in the Kawal tiger reserve corridor connecting tiger reserves in Maharashtra.

A poisoned carcass of a cattle has been confirmed as the reason that led to the death of a large male tiger, identified as S9, in the Darigaon forest of Komaram Bheem Asifabad district. Tiger S9 had fathered four cubs which have reached sub-adulthood; one of these cubs, a female, was found dead in the same area, less than a kilometre away, on Monday.

S9, reported to be aged between five and six years, is believed to have died a week ago. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) R.M. Dobriyal said after visiting the site on Tuesday. The carcass was found on Monday.

“A close inspection showed that the tiger was poisoned, it had all the characteristics of a poisoned kill. The body was not fully decomposed, maggots were dying and there were also some dead flies. Tissue samples have been taken and are being sent for forensic examination,” Dobriyal said.

Dobriyal was accompanied by M.C. Pargaein, PCCF-wildlife and Chief Wildlife Warden, Kawal tiger reserve field director S. Shantharam, divisional forest officer (DF0) Neeraj Tibrewal and veterinary doctors. After conducting a post-mortem of S9, and collecting samples from it and the cattle carcass, the remains of both were cremated as per National Tiger Conservation Authority protocol.

Dobriyal said the poisoning was clearly a deliberate act to kill tigers moving in the area, as no one had come forward to claim cattle kill compensation. The police have registered an FIR and investigation is on to try and identify the culprits, he said.

Dorbiyal also said camera traps installed by the forest department had captured images of Tiger S9 feeding on the cattle carcass, but did not specify when the images were captured.

The cattle kill was reported on December 30, after which some camera traps were placed overlooking it to see if the tigers would return to feed on it.

According to DFO Tibrewal, while indications were that the dead cattle, an ox, was poisoned, only a test of the sample can confirm it officially. The fur samples collected from the mouth of the dead one-and-a-half year old sub-adult cub of S9, along with the animal’s fur samples, have been sent to Hyderabad based Laboratory for Conservation of Endangered Species for identification.

The rest of the samples from the two dead tigers will be either sent to Telangana police’s Forensic Science Laboratory or to other labs specialising in wildlife forensics, he said.

While the area has been cordoned off, Dobriyal said efforts were on to locate the mother and the three other cubs of S9 and 50 animal trackers were on the job.

“We have installed around 50 camera traps. If need be, we will will get more animal trackers from other districts,” he said. The tiger family had made the forest part of its territory and were sighted regularly, he added.

The forest is about 8 km from Kagaznagar town and falls in the Kawal tiger reserve corridor connecting tiger reserves in Maharashtra.