Tiger found dead in Periyar Reserves

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A grown-up tiger was found dead with its stomach ripped open at Anjurili area in the Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR) in Kerala on Thursday.

Wildlife Officials said the preliminary assessment after the post-mortem on the carcass was that the tiger died of severe injury received by attack from a powerful animal like elephant, ruling out the possibility of it being a case of poaching.

The carcass was spotted last evening by the Wildlife guards. The six-year-old tiger might have been killed four days ago, Wildlife Department sources said.

The injury in the abdomen pointed to the possibility of the tiger being kicked hard by another animal, possibly an elephant, the sources said.

Belonging to the highly endangered Royal Bengal Tiger category, the particular tiger had been identified as one of those recorded by Wildlife Department during the camera tracking survey conducted in the area some time back.

The last survey had put the number of tigers in PTR at 24 to 26, sources said.

The viscera had been sent for detailed tests at the Regional Chemical Examination Laboratory.