Tigress found dead in Umred Karhandla Sanctuary, 2nd in 2 days

The carcass of a tigress was found in the early hours Monday in Umred Pauni Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary in Maharashtra's Bhandara district, over 60 kilometres from here, a senior Forest department official said.

This is the second incident in as many days in the sanctuary, the official informed.

Field Director of Pench-Tadoba Reserve Ravikiran Govekar stated that the body of the tigress was found early Monday morning during a field search operation by forest staff in the Paoni wildlife range of the Umred Pauni Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary.

He said the tigress' body was found close to the site where the carcass of a tiger was found on Sunday.

"The tigress found on Monday was T4. The one found on Sunday was T16. The death of both the big cats might have taken place around the same time. A semi-eaten body of a pig was also found nearby," the official said.

More details would emerge after the standard operating procedure (SOP) laid down for such cases by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is completed, Govekar added.

Tiger T16 was found dead on Sunday in compartment 215 of the Chichgaon Beat of the sanctuary's Paoni wildlife range, officials said.