West Champaran: A tigress has been found dead in Valmiki Tiger Reserve in Bihar’s West Champaran district, with forest officials suggesting it may have been killed in a territorial fight.
The carcass was discovered during routine patrolling in the Raghia forest area at around 9.30am on Sunday. Officials said the tigress had deep claw wounds across her body, an injury on the jaw and damage to the nails of her front legs.
Fresh pugmarks of a male tiger were traced nearby, along with tufts of tiger hair on broken branches and bushes, leading authorities to believe a conflict had taken place. “The possibility of death due to mutual conflict has been raised in the preliminary investigation,” a senior forest officer said.
A thin wire was also found near the tigress’s neck, though a postmortem revealed no internal injuries. The body was later cremated in line with protocol after samples were collected for testing at the Wildlife Institute of India and the Indian Veterinary Research Institute.
The reserve’s field director said a final conclusion would only be possible after forensic reports are received. In the meantime, forest staff have stepped up patrolling and surveillance in the Raghia area.
