Guwahati: Nearly less than a month after the recovery of two tiger carcasses, another dead tiger was found in Assam’s Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR) on Saturday, officials said.
A senior KNPTR official said that one carcass of male tiger, aged nearly 12 to 13 years, was recovered from western side of Mandir Baneshwar Anti-Poaching Camp (APC) area of Burapahar Range Ghorakati.
The official said that a committee was constituted by KNPTR Director Sonali Ghosh for carrying out a post-mortem examination and disposal of carcass as per the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) of National Tiger Conservation Authority.
Preliminary findings during post-mortem suggest that infighting has led to the death of the tiger.
The KNPTR official said that the carcass of a tigress, aged nearly three to four years, was recovered on January 18 afternoon from the Kathpora area of the Bagori Western Range.
Preliminary findings of the post-mortem examination suggested that the female tiger died due to infighting.
Earlier, on January 14, the carcass of a young male Royal Bengal tiger, aged nearly two to three years, was detected at Thute Chapori in the Eastern Range at Gamiri under the Biswanath Wildlife Division of the KNPTR.
The carcass was spotted by staff of the Gopaljarani Anti-Poaching Camp during routine patrolling.
Acting promptly, the KNPTR Director constituted a committee to oversee the post-mortem examination and disposal of the carcass as per NTCA guidelines.
Preliminary veterinary examination indicated that the death could have occurred due to natural causes or infighting.
Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve, India’s seventh UNESCO World Heritage Site, is home to the famed ‘Big Five’.
As per the latest estimates, the park shelters 2,613 greater one-horned rhinoceroses (2022 census), 104 Bengal tigers (2022), 1,228 Asian elephants (2024), 2,565 wild water buffaloes (2022), and 1,129 eastern swamp deer (2022).
Spread across the districts of Golaghat, Nagaon, Sonitpur and Biswanath, the park generated a revenue of more than Rs 10.90 crore in 2024-25 and more than Rs 8.81 crore in 2023-24.
The KNPTR comprises three forest divisions — Eastern Assam Wildlife Division (Bokakhat), Biswanath Wildlife Division (Biswanath Chariali), and Nagaon Wildlife Division (Nagaon).
(IANS)
