MYSURU: A six-year-old tigress was found dead inside Bandipur Tiger reserve near Jungle Lodges and Resorts (JLR) in the early hours of Saturday. The animal is suspected to have died owing to injuries caused by a speeding vehicle.
The carcass of the tigress was found near a link road in Maguvanahalli village bordering JLR, a few metres away from NH-766 under the Himavad Gopalswamy Range, just a km from the entry gate. With this, a total of four tigers have died in the reserve in the past six months. Initially, the tigress was assumed to be killed due to injuries caused during a fight with a wild boar as forest officials found a partially-eaten carcass of a wild boar in the vicinity.
However, after conducting a necropsy, it was found that the big cat had multiple fractures resembling the one caused by a speeding vehicle. Speaking to The New Sunday Express, T Balachandra, Director, Bandipur Tiger Reserve and Project Tiger, “Even though we found traces of boar meat inside the tigress, multiple fractures point at vehicular impact.”
He suspected heavy vehicles carrying vegetables which ply through the area, during early hours is the culprit. Reportedly, some JLR staffers said that they heard a loud roar at midnight hinting at the accident.
Balachandra said that the department has already stepped up efforts to trace the culprit and are going through the CCTV camera footage as well as vehicle registers.