T-104, an alleged maneater tiger that was kept in an enclosure for three years was found dead at Udaipur's Sajjangarh Biological Park.
The tiger was found dead on Wednesday, a day after it was tranquillised and shifted from Ranthambore Reserve.
Blamed for three human deaths, T-104 was captured by the Forest Department in September 2019 and was kept in an enclosure in Ranthambore ever since.
Born in 2016 to T-41 (Laila) and T-64 (Akash), T-104 is said to have made its first human kill in August 2019, followed by one more in the same month.
In September 2019, 104 allegedly killed one more human, following which it was declared 'dangerous to human life' and was captured.
Since then, T-104 was kept in an enclosure in the Darrah range until it was moved to Sajjangarh Biological Park on Tuesday.
According to Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) Ajay Chittora, T-104 could have died of multiple organ failure.
He said the exact cause of death would be known after a post-mortem.
Wildlife experts have raised questions over the timing of relocation. They said that the tiger was in the enclosure for the past three years and tranquillisation in hot weather and the shifting apparently could have worsened the tiger's health.
It is still unclear why T-104, which was young and healthy, started attacking humans.
Tigers usually turn maneaters when they are too old or are injured to hunt other prey.
It is believed that Ranthambore National Park has more tigers and tigresses than it can accommodate.
Due to the overpopulation, T-104 could not find a territory and was wandering from one place in search of food.
Like many tigers in Ranthambore, T-104 too had ventured out of the protected areas in search of prey, into nearby human settlements, and hunted cattle before turning on humans.
T-104 was the second high-profile maneater tiger of Ranthambore. The other one being T-24 (Ustad), which was blamed for four human deaths.
T-24 was born in 2006 and was one of the most popular tigers in Ranthambore among tourists.
Like in the case of T-104, it is unclear what caused T-24 to attack humans, but it is believed that its frequent confinement to cages for treatment and placing a radio collar caused changes in its natural behaviour.
Following its capture in May 2015, T-24 was shifted to Sajjangarh, where it spent the rest of its life until December 2022, when it died of cancer.
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