8-month-old tiger cub found dead in Madhya Pradesh, 6th tiger to die in a month

Bhopal: An eight-month-old cub was recently killed in a territorial fight in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR) in Umaria district, the sixth tiger to die in Madhya Pradesh in the past one month, forest officials said.

The cub’s carcass was found in Barbuspura area of Madhya Pradesh’s BTR on Sunday evening. The skull had injury marks and there were canine marks all over the body. The pug marks of an adult tiger were also found near the carcass. Prima facie, investigation suggested that the cub was killed in a territorial fight, said BS Annagiri, field director, BTR.

The forest guards have seen a tigress, a tiger and two cubs in the area two days ago. The cub might have been killed by the tiger. Now, we have increased patrolling in the area to track another cub and also tigress, he added.

The field director said the territorial fight is a natural phenomenon in an area with a high density of tigers.

Earlier, on April 12, a tiger was found dead at Pench Tiger Reserve in Seoni. The forest official suspects that the two-year-old tiger was also killed in a territorial fight. On April 3, a two-year-old tiger was found dead in Lalbarra area of Balaghat. On April 2 and 3, a tigress and its cub were killed in territorial fights in Satpura Tiger Reserve. A tiger was reported killed in Seoni on March 30 but this tiger’s death was attributed to an accident involving a vehicle.