A 10-year-old tigress, codenamed T35, which had strayed from Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve to Sultanpur forest area in December 2009, was found dead near Kheyavada village in Kota.
“The tigress’ carcass was found yesterday afternoon next to a blue bull calf it had killed,” said Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Lalit Singh Ranawat, adding the carcass is assumed to be two days old.
Ruling out the possibility of the big cat having been poisoned, he said the exact reason of its death can be ascertained only after the postmortem and forensic reports arrive.
“The tigress had been under regular monitoring since its arrival in the region. It had been living in the ravines of Sultanpur forests along Kali Sindh river and would sometimes roam into the forests of Baran district,” the DFO said.
Wildlife activist Vittal Sanadhaya alleged that the tigress was “certainly poisoned to death” as it had killed several domestic animals in the area and people were trying to kill it.
“For the first two years after its arrival, forest officials regularly monitored the tigress but later the department became careless leading to its death,” Mr. Sanadhaya alleged.
Mr. Ranawat, however, claimed the tigress was “popular” among people in the area as poachers, criminals, blue bulls and other animals that cause damages to the crops would stay away because of it.
Compensations for domestic animals and cattle killed by the tigress were given to the owners, the DFO added.
Experts from State wildlife department and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) had failed to capture the strayed tigress despite repeated attempts.
Former Indian Forest Services officer V.K. Salwan said two tigers had strayed into Kota region from RTR in the last 15 years but both died due to absence of corridors from the confluence Chambal and Kali Sindh rivers in Kota to Gagron in Jhalawar.
Another tiger that had strayed from RTR to Kota region was run over by a train at Dara Sanctuary in 2003.
