"The tiger was found dead in a lake located in the Karmajhiri Range of the park on Wednesday. Prima facie, it appears to be a case of poisoning," Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) T R Sharma told reporters.
"During the post mortem conducted at the park, the liver and kidney of the animal were found enlarged pointing to a possibility of poisoning," he said. The post mortem was conducted in the presence of a representative from World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) as per the protocol established by the National Tiger Conservation Authority.
The viscera that has been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory at Sagar for tests would, however, conclusively establish whether the animal was poisoned, Sharma said. The tiger had been radio collared on January 7 to facilitate research for scholars from the Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India. On December 24, 2009, two tiger cubs died of cold in the same park located in Seoni district in southern Madhya Pradesh, bordering Maharashtra.