Mandla: A four-year-old tigress was found dead inside Kanha Tiger Reserve of Madhya Pradesh, taking the death toll of big cats to 11 since January 1, 2018.
The dead feline in Khatia range of the reserve was spotted by forest staff on Wednesday. The tigress reportedly died in a territorial fight, a forest officer said.
A senior officer from the reserve refused any possibility of poaching, saying, "The tigress had a deep cut on her back indicating that she could have been assaulted by a reserve mate. As a precaution, we called a sniffer dog for further probe into the death."
A wildlife activist from MP refuted the forest department's theory behind the death, saying that tigresses are seldom involved in the fights for territorial supremacy. Normally, the dominant males get engaged in such brawls, he said.
With the latest casualty, MP has so far lost 11 tigers in the year 2018. In the year 2016, the state reported the death of 30 tigers, highest in India, and in 2017, 25 big cats had died here.
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