Madhya Pradesh loses three tigers within a week

Madhya Pradesh has lost three tigers to territorial fights within a week, forest department officials said on Wednesday.

The deaths have been reported at a time when Madhya Pradesh has regained the status of the countrys "tiger state" after a gap of nine years.

In the latest case, the carcass of a two-year-old tiger cub was found in the Ghanghuti forest area of Umaria district on late Tuesday night, an official said.

Earlier on Sunday and Monday, two carcasses of big cats were found in the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR), he added.

"We got information about the carcass in the Ghanghuti forest area on Tuesday night. A forest team reached the spot in the night itself, Forest Ranger PK Tripathi said.

After inspecting the spot, it can be concluded that the two-year-old tiger cub had died in territorial fight among wildcats, he said.

BTRs in-charge deputy director A K Shukla told PTI on Wednesday that the carcass of a 10-month-old cub was found in Kallawah range of the reserve on July 28.

The next day (Monday), the carcass of cubs mother - eight-year-old tigress T-62 - was also found in the same area, he said.

Injury marks on the carcasses indicated the both had died in territorial fights, Shukla said, adding pugmarks of a tiger were also found in the area.

The carcass of the 10-month-old cub was looking a day old, while that of T-62 was a week old, the official said.

Another cub of T-62 was found alive and shifted to a safe enclosure, he said.

Shukla said it is estimated that BTR houses 110 tigers.

The All India Tiger Estimation Report 2018, released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, had revealed that Madhya Pradesh was the "tiger state" of the country with 526 big cats. Karnataka was a close second with 524 tigers.

Madhya Pradesh had lost the coveted status of the "tiger state" to Karnataka in 2010.