Goa: Tiger kills buffalo, officials assure payout to owner

Days after the death of four tigers in Goa's Mahadayi Wildlife Sanctuary due to suspected poisoning by locals, a buffalo belonging to a villager was found killed by a feline in the same area, a forest department official said on Sunday.

The buffalo owner has been assured of adequate compensation in order to prevent any 'retaliatory killing' of wild cats by locals, the official told PTI.

The carcass of the buffalo was recovered on Saturday from Derode village located in the Mahadayi Wildlife Sanctuary area of Sattari taluka in North Goa district, he said.

It was found just a few kilometres away from the place where a tigress and her three cubs were found dead last week, the official said.

"The way the buffalo was attacked, it appeared to have been killed by a tiger," he said.

In a bid to prevent any 'revenge killing' of tigers, the forest authorities met the villager's family and assured to provide them compensation for their loss, he added.

Carcasses of a tigress and her cub were recovered from the sanctuary on Wednesday, days after her two other cubs were found dead nearby.

The forest department prima facie suspects that the felines were poisoned in a "revenge killing" for preying on cattle in the village.

The Centre has constituted a two-member committee to ascertain the cause of their death.

The Goa forest department has arrested three men for suspected poisoning of the tigress and her cubs, officials earlier said.