‘Mob revenge’ kills third Kaziranga tiger this year
Animals Straying Into Adjoining Villages Easy Prey, Foresters Worried by Naresh Mitra | TNN
A tiger was found dead outside the Kohra forest range of Kaziranga on Saturday. Foresters suspected a revenge killing by angry residents of villages that border the national park. It was the third tiger to die in Kaziranga this year.
The carcass was spotted beyond the park boundary, near an upcoming resort in the Mohpara area. The tiger was between seven and eight years old and may have died a couple of days ago.
Foresters ruled out the poaching angle, pointing to the fact that the tiger’s body wasn’t mutilated and no organs were missing. “We found the ninth rib of the tiger broken and partially calcified. We are waiting for a report on the exact cause of death,” said Kaziranga divisional forest officer D D Gogoi.
Over the past week, tigers in Kaziranga have frequently lifted livestock from neighbouring villages. On Saturday, a pig reportedly fell prey to one of the big cats in the park’s Sildubi area. The incident lent credence to the belief that the tiger death in Kohra was the result of a revenge attack.
But some forest officials said the tiger could have also been killed by a rhino. A few days ago, a tiger had attacked a rhino calf in the Bagmari area of Kaziranga. “Probably, the tiger suffered grievous injuries in the attack by a rhino while attempting to kill the calf. One of its ribs was found broken. But until we get the post-mortem report, it’s difficult to say how it died,” an officer said.
Veterinarians from the Bokakhatbased Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) conducted the post-mortem and collected samples for further tests. “Preliminary findings indicate the tiger might have died of infection following the fracture of the ninth rib on the right side. The infection also spread to the lungs and caused emphysema — a chronic respiratory disease due to over-inflation of alveoli in the lungs. It declines lung function and causes breathlessness,” said CWRC veterinarian Phulmoni Gogoi, who conducted the post-mortem.
Twelve tigers have died in Kaziranga since November 2008, a trend that has prompted the state government to start setting up tiger foundations to ensure their foolproof protection. Though the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau did not find a direct involvement of poachers in those tiger deaths, conservationists warned it was a matter of time before poaching became a huge threat in these parts.
Frequent cases of tigers straying out of the park to prey on livestock have increased their vulnerability, both in the face of angry villagers and poachers. Unlike rhinos, it is difficult for poachers to kill tigers inside Kaziranga as 65% of the 430 sq km area is grassland. But the cats can be targeted when they stray out into human settlements.
