Maharashtra: Radio-collared tiger found dead with deep wound around neck; septicemia suspected

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A radio-collared tiger was found dead with a deep wound around his neck in Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) in Maharashtra's Chandrapur district on Wednesday morning, a forest department official said.

The feline is suspected to have died due to septicemia caused by the wound, he said.

The carcass of the tiger named T-161 - was found in compartment number 290 in Karwa range of the TATR's core area, its chief conservator of forest, Jitendra Ramgaonkar, said in a release.

The tiger had been radio-collared in April 2019 along with two other sub adult females (all cubs of T-19 female). The last signal from the radio collar was received in August 2019, after which the tiger was only spotted in camera trap images in 2020 and 2021 and was observed moving normally, he said.

In February 2022, the tiger was photo captured with a wound around the neck and intensive monitoring and capture operation to remove the collar was launched.

However, the operation was unsuccessful as the tiger kept moving in dense forest constantly. On March 29, the animal was seen near Ambeutara stream, but could not be captured, he added.

But the search team located the carcass in the stream this morning. The post-mortem examination was conducted by a team of veterinarians, which revealed a deep wound around the neck area and the primary reason behind the death could be generalized septicemia, Ramgaonkar said, adding that the big cat's visceral organs have been collected for further forensic examination.

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