Tiger hit by speeding car on Mysuru-Nanjangud highway dies

Mysuru: A tiger was killed, as a speeding car hit the wildcat that was crossing the Mysuru-Nanjangud highway, near Mysuru Airport in Mandakalli, around 11 pm, on Sunday night.

This is the first such accident, in which a tiger was killed by a speeding vehicle, reported on the stretch, said Assistant Conservator of Forest Lakshman. It was a sub-adult male tiger, around two years old.

It is not a forest area, but there are abandoned lands around the place. The tiger might have been hiding there, in its course of transit. There are possibilities that the tiger might have strayed from the Bandipur forest area, he said.

According to the Forest department, the tiger was crossing the road and was hit by a speeding car. It suffered serious head injuries and died on the spot. The front portion of the car too was damaged.

According to K N Basavaraj, Deputy Conservator of Forest (Territorial division), the tiger killed in the road mishap was one among the four cubs that were sighted with the mother tiger near Nanjangud, a few months ago. The four cubs were named T6, T7, T8 and T9. They were last sighted in November last year. The male tiger cub that was killed on Sunday night has been identified as T6, he said.

The car and the driver were taken into custody and the carcass of the tiger was removed, according to Forest department officials.

As per the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) norms, post-mortem was conducted by veterinarians of Bandipur and Mysuru, in the presence of Conservator of Forest, Mysuru Circle, and a NTCA representative.

The tiger was spotted on camera trap earlier. As a precautionary measure, the Forest department personnel were deployed, along with the vehicle for patrolling. Awareness was created among the people, by distributing pamphlets and sending messages through wildlife advance alert systems. A case has been registered, according to a press release from Conservator of Forest, Mysuru Circle.

There are three tiger reserves in Mysuru region - Nagarhole Tiger Reserve, Biligiri Ranganatha Tiger Reserve, Bandipur Tiger Reserve, in Mysuru and Chamarajanagar districts.

As per the details available, Bandipur Tiger Reserve has an estimated 191 tigers in 2023. Similarly, there are 125 tigers in Nagarahole Tiger Reserve and 39 tigers in Biligiri Ranganatha Tiger Reserve. However, this is the first road accident involving a tiger.