Tiger found dead in water-filled mine

A tiger was found dead in an abandoned water-filled mine in Ramtek forest range in the district, officials said on Sunday.

The carcass was found on Saturday.

"Some forest department staffers were on an inspection at Bihada mine in order prepare a report. During the exercise, they found the carcass of a tiger floating on the water at the abandoned manganese mine," an official said.

"The staff members immediately alerted the senior forest officials about it," he said.

As per the preliminary probe, the big cat accidentally fell into the water and drowned around three days back, the official said.

"The exact cause of the death would be known after the post-mortem," he said.

With this, the number of tiger deaths in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra has gone up to 18 this year, the official claimed.