Two tigresses found dead in Tamil Nadu's Nilgiris district

Two tigresses were found dead under mysterious circumstances in the Avalanche forest area in Nilgiris district on Saturday.

While one was found in a stream of the Avalanche dam, another tigress was found further away. People of the Emerald village in Kundah block, who found the dead tigresses, informed the police and forest officials.

The cause of their death will be known only after a post-mortem was conducted, a senior forest official said.

Nilgiris district forest officer S Gautham, accompanied by ranger Krishna Kumar and other staff rushed to the spot and inspected the carcasses. Confirming the death, the DFO said both the tigresses could have died about two days ago.

"There are no suspicious marks or injuries on their bodies. The cause of their death will be known only after postmortem is conducted," Gautham said.

This is not the first instance of a tiger dying under mysterious circumstances. On August 17, a tigress and two tiger cubs were found dead in two different forest ranges in the district and a seven-year-old tiger was found dead in a private tea garden in Naduvattam, taking the toll to six so far.