Karnataka: Tiger, found dead in Tumakuru district, raises concerns

The finding of the carcass of a tiger in Tumakuru district has come as a big shock for forest officials as the place has no record of tiger sightings for several decades.

The carcass of the male tiger, aged about 6-7 years, was found in a large pipe on the bund of a tank near Chikkahedigehalli in Gubbi taluk. The place is close to Ankasandra State Forest in the Gubbi range. Villagers, who saw the animal carcass, alerted the Forest Department officials.

An official said, "It is the first time we have seen a tiger here and, unfortunately, it had to be this way. We don't have records of tiger sightings in the district, especially in the Gubbi range. We are still trying to understand how the animal might have come here."

DCF H Anupama told DH that the department has conducted a postmortem as per the guidelines issued by the National Tiger Conservation Authority.

In a statement, she said the officials are assessing the reason for the presence of the tiger in the area. "The tiger seems healthy. There are no visible injuries. The postmortem report will reveal the cause of death," she said.

In Bengaluru, senior officials said the visceral samples of the tiger have been sent for a detailed analysis. "There is a suspicion that the tiger might have been poisoned. The detailed analyses of viscera will show if that is the case. However, the tiger might have died of hunger," an official added.

Wildlife biologist Sanjay Gubbi said the big cat was not residing in the area as tigers were not sighted there for over 70-80 years.

"There were tigers in Devarayanadurga, Sibi and other places in the past. Unfortunately, the Tumakuru district is now left with no large, contiguous forests that can host resident tigers. No wild tigers have been scientifically documented in the last 7-8 decades in the district. This could surely be a straying tiger from Bhadravathi division (Kukwadi-Ubrani forests) or Bhadra Tiger Reserve," he said.

Sanjay Gubbi noted that a tiger was rescued from Tirumalapura in Chitradurga taluk, about 120 km from Chikkahedigehalli, in September 2008.

"The male tiger was found near Chitradurga. It was aged and had lost its three canines. Tigers are getting distributed to areas like this, but they can't survive in such places due to lack of large habitats or large wild prey which are critical for their survival," he said.