Cases of endangered animals dying after feeding on a poisoned prey are not new, but inconsiderate people still do not understand the potential danger of this. While the environment suffers a huge blow, the perpetrators rarely surface.
In a tragic incident, a male and a female tiger, both 10 years old died after feeding on the carcass of a poisoned wild boar at Pollachi in Anamalai Tiger Reserve.
Forest officials found the carcasses of the two tigers and the half-eaten boar within a one-km radius along a jungle stream in the core zone of the ATR at a place called Uppumanthittu, TOI reports. The possibility of poaching was ruled out as the body parts of the tigers were intact.?
¡°Postmortem and circumstantial evidence point out that the tigers ingested the poison laden carcass of a wild boar resulting in death. I suspect the wild boar was the target, but unfortunately we have lost two tigers. Nevertheless, we have taken this incident very seriously,¡¯¡¯ TOI quoted Debasis Jana, additional principal conservator of forest and field director of ATR.
This is the first such incident of poisoning at the reserve and is a huge loss to ATR which is among the youngest tiger reserves in the country.?
¡°The two could be a mating pair. This is the first time we are coming across tigers being killed due to poisoning in ATR,¡¯¡¯ TOI?quoted Osai Kalidas, an environmentalist, as saying.?
When the culprit who poisoned the boar is found, due punishment should be meted out.?