RANCHI: In a rare incident, an ageing tigress was killed by a herd of Bison in Palamu Tiger Reserve (PTR). According to the officials in PTR, a deep wound has been found on the back of the 16-year-old old tigress, indicating that it was hit by the horn of a Bison.
“A tigress, found lying at Betla Compartment-II, was spotted by the patrolling team at around 6 pm. After no movement was noticed for a long time, they went near it and realized the animal to be dead. It appears that the ageing tigress died out of a clash which took place with a group of Baisan, found in plenty in the PTR,” said PTR Director YK Das.
Since the tigress was already aged, having worn out claws and teeth, it could not counter the attack made by the herd of Bison, it gave up and got killed, he added.
“The only wound on its back indicates that it was hit only once and succumbed to its injuries immediately after that,” said Das. Several blood spots of Bison have also been found near the spot and hence search for injured Baisan has been launched in the region, he added.
“Post mortem reports revealed that the tigress was over 16 years of age and was not in a condition of hunting a pray,” said Das.
Meanwhile, Betla National Park has been closed for visitors after the incident and a team as a special team will visit the spot soon to investigate the matter, he added.
According to Das, they have records of the presence of at least three tigers in PTR.