Tigress found dead, autopsy points to injuries from infighting
COIMBATORE: A tigress aged between eight and nine years was found dead at the Uliyur Reserve Forest in Sirumugai Forest Range on Friday. A team of three veterinarians who conducted the postmortem said the big cat could have died due to a fight with another tiger.
“The carcass of the animal was found in a river on Friday afternoon by Anti-Poaching Watchers during a regular patrol inside the forest. The river is a branch of the backwaters of the Bhavanisagar Dam,” said Sirumugai forest range officer K Manoj who ordered the autopsy.
Checking the injuries on the carcass, a veterinarian explained that the infighting could have happened two days ago and the animal took shelter in the river water as it was not able to bear the pain, irritation and bleeding caused during the fight.
“During the fight, the trachea of the female tiger was completely damaged by another tiger. This led to a respiration problem and an inability to hunt on its own and it died. The tigress also has injuries in the neck, shoulder, abdomen, hind legs etc,” he added.
The veterinarian said there were several injury marks on the animal’s body but there may be multiple reasons behind its death. He also said they are clueless about what forced the animals to fight together.
“If a male tiger attacks a female, the reason could be that the latter might have refused to mate with the former. If a tigress attacked another female it is a territorial fight. Moreover, we cannot say from the injuries whether a male or female tiger had attacked the tigress,” he explained.
The autopsy was held by Sadhasivam, Forest Veterinary Officer of Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR); Thiyagarajan, Assistant Veterinary surgeon of Sirumugai; and Vediyppan, Assistant Veterinary Surgeon of Erumporai.
The postmortem was held in the presence of District Forest Officer N Jayaraj and NGO representatives. After the postmortem, the animal was burnt nearby as per the guidelines of the National Tiger Conservation Authority.
