Two tiger deaths in a week in Bandhavgarh

 

 

  

 

Two back-to-back incidents of tigers’ deaths within a week is raising serious concern over wildlife safety and management practices at Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in Umaria district. The latest incident involves the recovery of a tiger’s carcass from a well located at Kudri Tola village near Raipur Beat in Dhamokhar Buffer Range of the reserve. Following the information, forest officials and park staff rushed to the spot and initiated an investigation to ascertain the cause of death.

 

According to sources, the tiger was found dead inside the well and preliminary efforts are underway to determine whether the death was accidental or due to other reasons. A detailed post-mortem examination is expected to ascertain the reason behind suspicious death of big cat.

 

It may be noted that just two days back, on January 8, a female tiger cub was found dead within the reserve. These incidents have also raised questions over the effectiveness of monitoring, safety measures and overall management within the tiger reserve, particularly in buffer zones where human-animal conflict risks are higher. According to the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve administration, the forest department has retrieved the tiger’s carcass on Friday morning while further investigation into the matter is underway to ascertain reason behind the death of tiger.