NILGIRIS: A three-year-old tiger that was caught in a snare (clutch cable) died due to suffocation near a tea estate at Chelukadi reserve forest in Gudalur on Tuesday night.
Estate workers noticed the carcass on Wednesday morning and informed forest department. A team led by Gudalur District Forest Officer N Venkatesh Prabhu reached the spot at 9:30 am and commenced an investigation.
They suspect that poachers may have placed the snare to trap wild boars. However, the tiger got caught in it, probably on Tuesday night, and died.
“Nails, skin, teeth, and other parts of the animal are intact. We have picked up three persons from Chelukadi village who have previous history of theft and housebreaking cases in the Gudalur police station limit. This is the first time they are committing the wildlife offense. We are investigating with them, and they will be arrested,” an official said.
“The animal may have got caught in the snare on Tuesday night since the carcass was fresh. We noticed marks in the ground as the animal struggled before it died. We will be sending organ samples to SACON and Toxicology lab in Coimbatore for analysis,” the official added.
Postmortem examination was carried out by veterinary assistant surgeons Rajesh of Theppakkadu and Naveen Kumar of Cherambadi, following which the carcass was burned.
According to sources, a total of 112 tigers died due to various reasons across the country this year so far. Of this, three deaths were reported in Gudalur forest division. Out of the three, two tigers (male sub adult and female adult) died due to suspected poisoning in Bitherkadu on August 20.