Tigress found dead in Uttar Pradesh's canal

Representational image

Lakhimpur Kheri: A carcass of a tigress was found floating in the Sharda canal on Wednesday, a forest official said. The animal was around three to four-years-old and had no injury marks on her body and all her organs were intact as well, Divisional forest officer (DFO) Sameer Kumar stated. "A panel of doctors has been formed to carry out post mortem examination to ascertain the exact cause of death," he added. The canal in which the body was found is situated in Bijhauli bridge in Phardhan area under the south Kheri forest division, the forest official said.

In another incident, the carcasses of a tigress and her two cubs were found in the Bramhapuri Forest Division in Chandrapur District near Nagpur. Forest officials had taken a local farmer into custody, and say that he has confessed to poisoning the carcass of a calf, which could have been consumed by the tigers. However, the farmer claims he did it to target stray dogs which he thought had killed his calf.

This year India lost has 51 tigers while the tiger deaths last year were 91, worrying conservationists. Actor and wildlife lover Randeep Hooda has tweeted his demand of a proper investigation into the death of the tigers. According to senior Forest Department officials, the carcasses were found in a field in the Kavadsi Range inside Brahmapuri Forest Division. They also found a dead calf nearby. Before the farmer confessed, officials had suspected that the tigers ate the calf, which was probably poisoned. The incident has left conservationists and wildlife lovers red faced as it also highlights the fact that tigers staying outside protected areas are at risk of electrocution, retaliatory killings, poisoning etc.

With inputs from PTI

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