MP: Tiger killed in territorial fight at Kanha

A seven-year-old tiger named Bheema was killed in an alleged territorial fight at Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh, taking the number of feline deaths in the state to 31 this year.
"Our tiger protection force had found Bheema on December 4 with injuries and wounds on his right limb in Naugaon beat of national park. After capturing him, we shifted him to the enclosure at Mukki for further treatment. The wild cat succumbed to the injuries yesterday," Sanjay Shukla, Director of Kanha National Park, told PTI.
"Bheema had developed septicaemia and hypothermia after the injuries. We had called doctors from Nagpur and Jabalpur for his treatment. But the injured tiger did not respond," Shukla said.

Officials suspect that injuries were caused by a territorial fight as another tiger - Chhota Munna - was also found injured the next day of Bheema's capturing.
"This is the mating season for the wild cats and this might have caused the clash," Shukla said.
Tiger conservationist Ajay Dubey, however, blamed the poor management of national parks in Madhya Pradesh for Bheema's death.

"Madhya Pradesh has lost 31 tigers during the current year. This is the highest ever death toll in a year. State's Forest Department finds it convenient to attribute these deaths to territorial fights," Dubey told PTI adding that there is no veterinary expert (wildlife) in the state despite a 2005 decision to constitute one such cadre within the forest department."

Dubey said the state had over 700 tigers in year 2000, which has now reduced to 308, according to the last census.
"This is the standard reply of the government that the tiger died following a territorial fight. If a tiger is ill in this state, it is sure to die," he alleged.
Earlier, a tigress was killed on November 29 allegedly due to overdose of a tranquiliser while another tiger was hit by a train and died on the railway tracks in Satna on December 5. A white tigress had died in Mukundpur Tiger Safari on December 7. Bheema's is the fourth in this series of tiger deaths during the last fortnight.

Kanha National Park, about 450-kms from state capital Bhopal, is spread into Mandla and Balaghat districts of Madhya Pradesh.