It’s been more than a couple of weeks since a male tiger was found dead in the DB Kuppe Range of Nagarahole Tiger Reserve. But the forest department hasn’t been able to determine the exact cause of death or the chronology of events from death to post-mortem.
According to R Gokul, Conservator of Forests, Nagarahole, the post-mortem report states that the tiger, which was 6-7 years old, died of brain haemorrhage. In the intervening night of August 22 and 23, forester Shekharaiah heard growls of tiger and leopard on the roof of his quarters. Sounds of a leopard jumping on the roof were also heard. The noise died down later. In the morning, bloodstains and broken teeth were found scattered about. A combing operation later found the tiger dead a kilometre and a half from the combat site.
Previously, visitors regularly sighted the tiger in the range. It was camera-trapped several times by the department and given the name, NHT-6. It weighed 220-230 kg and was 8-10 feet long.
The post-mortem was conducted on August 24 near the department’s office in the presence of Jagat Ram, the Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (APCCF), Project Tiger, D Rajkumar, a conservationist appointed by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), and team of veterinarians.
Conservationists have disputed brain haemorrhage as the cause of death. K M Chinnappa, president of Wildlife First, a conservation advocacy organisation, said: “The carcass was shifted before the APCCF reached the spot where it was found. This may amount to tampering of evidence. We urge the NTCA and the chief wildlife warden to form a high-level technical committee of independent tiger biologists, veterinarians and wildlife experts to thoroughly investigate the issue and analyse all the evidence.”
Gokul said the department was ready for enquiry, and admitted that it was a first-of-its-kind case.
P S Somashekar, Inspector General of Forests, NTCA, said there was a standard protocol to be followed for post-mortem. This entails informing officials about the carcass site, securing the area, not shifting the carcass, photographing, and if possible, videographing the post-mortem and the area, listing the missing body parts, explaining the cause of death and, if required, sending samples for forensic examination.
The officer said that while the final autopsy report was still awaited, the post-mortem was delayed because the carcass wasn’t kept in a freezer.
This is against a provision made by the NTCA in 2012-13 that a freezer can be used if the carcass is being shifted and if the post-mortem is delayed. There is also a provision that the government will help get the freezer in the tiger reserves. But no such reserve in Karnataka had it.
The Forest department is unable to answer some pertinent questions such as: If the tiger stands on hind, its height becomes 12 feet and it can climb a roof. So what happened here, what was the height of roof and window where the tiger is said to have smashed its head? If the tiger died of brain haemorrhage, how could it walk 1.5 km? If it jumped down roof, how did it land on head rather than on paws, which is normal cat tendency? Why are scratch marks on RFO quarters horizontal and not vertical? Since it’s an unusual case, why tiger experts and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) were not invited?
Published 06 September 2015, 20:08 IST