BHOPAL: A radio-collared tigress from the Satpura Tiger Reserve was found dead and buried in a forest area of southern Madhya Pradesh, with officials arresting five men, including the main accused, in connection with the case.
The decomposed body of the tigress was found on Friday in a pit in the West Chhindwara Forest Division, outside the reserve’s territory. According to the forest department, the prime accused, a 50-year-old man, allegedly poisoned the tigress by mixing urea in the animal’s kill.
During initial questioning, the accused said he killed the tigress to avenge the death of his ox, which was attacked by the big cat. He mixed urea in the carcass, knowing the tigress would return to feed on it. The tigress later died after consuming the poisoned meat. The carcass was then buried with the help of four aides, and the radio-collar was burnt to destroy evidence.
However, officials indicated another possible motive. “The prime accused had lost a cattle in killed by tiger in June 2025 and received Rs 15,000 compensation from the forest department. So why will he actually go for revenge killing over the loss of cattle now, despite knowing well that he would get due compensation for the loss,” a source said.
“During questioning, the prime accused said that he had spotted that the tiger which was attacking his ox was actually radio-collared. Since the incident happened close to the place of his illegal opium cultivation, he might have feared that the forest department officials, tracking the tiger through the radio-collar, may ultimately land at the concerned spot, leading to the surfacing of the illegal cultivation before the authorities, followed by punitive action against him by the police. Possibly it was that fear which might have actually made him decide to kill the tigress, by mixing urea in the kill, which the big cat returned to feed upon later. He also burnt the radio-collar,” sources added.
Officials said the tigress had been relocated from the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in 2018 and had established its territory outside the reserve boundary. Its movement was being tracked through a radio-collar.
When the collar signals became stationary, a search team located the carcass in the Sangakheda Range of the West Chhindwara Division. Tracker dogs later helped officials trace the accused and his aides.
This is the 14th tiger death reported in Madhya Pradesh this year. In 2025, the state recorded 55 tiger deaths, the highest since the launch of Project Tiger in 1973.
Bhopal-based wildlife activist Ajay Dubey has written to authorities, raising concerns over the incident. “The incident is not merely a case of poaching but a glaring example of administrative and monitoring failure,” Dubey alleged.
“The tigress was fitted with a functional radio collar. Reportedly, the signal was lost/dropped at least two days before the carcass was discovered. More alarmingly, the tigress is said to have been stationary at the same spot since March 3. How did the monitoring team fail to sound an alarm for 23 days despite no movement being recorded? Given the 23-day "silence" or lack of movement alerts in this current case, it is imperative to investigate whether the radio collar signals were intercepted or "spoofed" to show a false status to the monitoring station. The recovery of the body only happened after the "Collar ID" stopped giving signals entirely, leading the team to the final location on Friday. Had the "no-movement" alert been acted upon weeks ago, this tragedy might have been averted.
"There is a serious concern regarding whether digital camera traps in the STR periphery are being bypassed or hacked by organized syndicates to avoid detection. We demand a forensic audit of the memory modules and metadata of all camera traps in the Satpura tiger reserve. We also demand an immediate quality check on the hardware currently in use. The NTCA must verify if the encryption on these collars and cameras meets current cybersecurity standards to prevent poachers from tracking animals in real-time using intercepted frequencies,” Dubey added.
“The area where the incident occurred is a known hotspot for illegal logging and opium cultivation. Despite the high-risk nature of this zone, STR teams remained inactive, failing to provide the intensified patrolling required for such sensitive regions."
Dubey has demanded that an investigation must be launched not just against the arrested accused, but also against officials responsible for monitoring the radio-collar data.