Two more tigers found dead in Nagpur Wildlife Sanctuary

There is talk among locals and in wildlife circles, that the carcass of a partly eaten boar found in the same location as the dead tigers, was poisoned. Representation pic

The year 2018 was not good for wildlife, and in the last two days of the year, two tigers were found dead in Umred Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary near Nagpur, in a suspected case of poisoning. On Sunday, a tourist spotted the carcass of a tigress, and on Monday the carcass of a tiger was found near the same location. This year 98 tigers and over 450 leopards have died across the country.

A Forest Department official said, "In an unfortunate incident, one more carcass of a tiger, T16, was found in UKWS during a field search operation by the forest staff on Monday morning. The locality is close to the site where a tigress was found dead on Sunday. She was identified as T4. She might have died at the same time as the male. The partly eaten carcass of a wild boar was also found nearby. However, a detailed report will be shared after the procedure as per National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) SOP is completed."

Was the boar poisoned?
There are talks among the locals and in wildlife circles that the carcass of the wild boar might have been poisoned, killing the tigers which probably ate it. "I think that there was a delay in the search operation by the Forest Department. If it had been done properly yesterday itself, and the wild boar carcass was removed, the life of one tiger might have been saved. It might have eaten the carcass which is said to have been poisoned," said a wildlife activist.

As per the NTCA data for the year 2018, a total of 98 tigers have died in the country, while as per the 2017 data, the number of deaths were 115 across the country. Conservation photographer Sarosh Lodhi from the group Conservation, Lens and Wildlife (CLaW) said, "It's disheartening to see that year after year the central India landscape contributes to nearly 50% of tiger mortality in India. Not much is being done to curb the growing menace of electrocution.

The poor rate of conviction in wildlife crimes still continues to dog the issue. With the absence of deterrents, wildlife crimes are committed fearlessly as within no time the culprits are out on bail. This coupled with man-animal conflict due to shrinking cover caused by various linear developmental projects, and increase in human population is making it difficult for wild animals. Knee jerk shooting orders for problem animals without trying to find a long-term solution, just add to the problem."

98
No. of tigers which died in 2018 in the country, as per NTCA

461
No. of leopards which have died in 2018

Body of leopard found inside Film City
In a yet another incident of suspected poaching, the body of a leopard trapped in a snare was found at Film City on Monday evening. The forest department received a call on Monday evening informing them about a body found trapped inside a snare. A few years back, too, the body of a leopard had been found inside Film City. The Thane Forest Department Territorial team has gone to the spot and is investigating the matter.

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