Three Corbett tigers dead in a week: Victims of 'revenge' killings?

With three tigers found dead in the Corbett Tiger Reserve within a week, preliminary investigations have raised questions about the cause of death. On 1 June, the discovery of a tiger carcass near the Corbett Tiger Reserve in Nainital district, marked the third such incident in the area within a week. The carcass of the tiger was recovered in a decomposed state this morning from Hathi Dangar in Fantoo range of Tarai West forest division, Corbett Field Director Samir Sinha told PTI. It was traced after a foul smell in the area. An autopsy is being conducted to ascertain how the big cat died, he said. A report in The Indian Express, has quoted sources saying the three Corbett tigers may have been poisoned or been victims of ‘revenge killings’. This, after preliminary investigations have indicated that the deaths were unnatural and poaching has almost been ruled out as the bodies were left intact.  The daily quoted Corbett Tiger Reserve Director Samir Sinha as saying: “They can’t be cases of natural deaths,” but said they were yet to get the complete post-mortem report. With the population of tigers within Corbett Tiger Reserve increasing, the tigers could have attacked children or cattle leading to villagers posioning them. The putrefying carcasses of the big cats in all the three instances suggest they died days before being found, raising doubts over the way patrolling is being carried out in the tiger landscape of Kumaon’s tarai region, experts said. The population of the endangered species in Corbett is estimated to be 172-200 and that in India 1,706. With PTI inputs