Tiger Found Dead in Gujarat is the One Caught on Cam: Forest Dept

The carcass has been sent to 3 laboratories to ascertain the cause of death as no external injury marks were found.

The rotting carcass of the tiger that was spotted a fortnight ago after it wandered into Gujarat from Madhya Pradesh

(Photo: Rahul Nair/The Quint)

The Gujarat forest department on Wednesday, 27 February, confirmed that the tiger found dead in Mahisagar district on Tuesday, 26 February was the same that was captured on camera around two weeks back – the first sighting of a tiger in the state in three decades.

The department, however, ruled out poaching as the cause of the tiger's death. The carcass of the tiger was found on Tuesday at Kantar village in the forest area of Mahisagar district.

The animal was found dead around 15 kms from the spot, where it was last captured on camera. Based on the examination of the carcass, the forest department ruled out the possibility of poaching, a senior forest department official said. The official said samples of the tiger carcass have been sent to three laboratories to ascertain the cause of the death as no external injury marks were found on it.

According to the official, the pattern of the tiger's stripes led the post-mortem panel, formed to probe its death, to conclude that it was the same animal that was captured on the camera trap around two weeks back.

Images of the lone tiger captured on cameras set up by the forest department.(Photo Courtesy: Twitter @BsKanjiyani)

“During the examination, no physical injury was noticed on the tiger. Also, all the 18 claws, 4 canine teeth, genital organ and skin were found to be intact, hence this is definitely not a case of poaching.”

S K Srivastava, Chief Conservator of Forests, Vadodara, 

Only two weeks ago, the state government had confirmed the presence of a tiger in Gujarat. The animal was spotted in the state after a gap of nearly three decades. The tiger had strayed into Gujarat possibly from neighbouring Madhya Pradesh.

Srivastava said the exact cause of its death is yet to be ascertained as no external injury was found on the animal. "We have collected three sets of samples for investigation, which will be sent to Gujarat Forensic Sciences Laboratory in Gandhinagar, Anand Veterinary Hospital and LaCONES in Hyderabad for examination," he said.

The post-mortem panel comprises senior forest department officials, a representative of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NCTA), veterinary doctors, and district representative of the Animal Welfare Board of India, Srivastava said.

"The carcass was burnt as per the protocol of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in the presence of a panel, villagers and mediapersons," he added.