Gujarat: Did starvation kill the roving tiger?

Did the sole male tiger that was spotted in Mahisagar but was later found dead under mysterious condition die of starvation?

Those in the know said that starvation could be a possibility. "From Feb 16 onwards upto Feb 26, the day it was found dead the officials did not see any kill," said an official in the know.

"The department had after the death came to light checked for any loss of cattle in the villages surrounding the forest area but found nothing. The carcass of any wild animals were also not found leading to the possibility that it could have died of starvation," said the official.

The top department officials however said at this point of time it was too early to speculate. "The post mortem report was inconclusive and three sets of samples were sent for further investigation. The reports are not yet in and so we cannot say anything as of now," said Chief Conservator of Forest Vadodara, S K Srivastava.

"Poaching had been ruled out. So that leaves just a few possibilities like starving, snake bite, disease or poisoning," said Srivastava.

The body of the tiger was found in a decomposed state in forests of Kantar Village some 70 km from Godhra and close to Mahisagar. The body was spotted by the field staff that had been tracking the animal since it was found. It was found three to four days after its death.

The pattern of the tiger's stripes led the post-mortem panel, formed to probe its death, to conclude that it was the same animal that was captured on the camera trap sometimes back.

It should be noted that it was almost after three decades that a tiger was spotted in Gujarat making it the first state to have all the three big cats. The tiger had been first spotted by a local school teacher and later camera traps set up by the department confirmed its presence.

An Awful End

The tiger had been first spotted by a local school teacher and later camera traps set up by the department confirmed its presence. The body of the tiger was found in a decomposed state in forests of Kantar village some 70 km from Godhra and close to Mahisagar.