Tiger, two leopards found dead in Uttarakhand

Dehradun, Feb 8 (PTI) A four-year-old tiger was found dead at the Rajaji National Park even as two leopards were found dead in Kumaon and Garhwal regions of Uttarakhand. The carcass of the big cat was found by a patrol team of wildlife personnel in Gauhri range of the Rajaji National Park here yesterday, park authorities said today. Though the limbs of the tiger including its nails and teeth are intact, prima facie its death seems to have been caused by poisoning, they said, adding that a pig was also found dead about 600 metres away from where the carcass of the tiger was found. Park authorities suspect that the pig was poisoned by forest dwellers living close to the park and the tiger died after preying on it. A postmortem is being conducted and the viscera of the tiger has been sent to Barreily for examination which will ascertain the exact cause of its death, they said. Out of the nine tigers at the park, it was the only one with reproductive powers with the rest of them being either too young or too old to procreate, park authorities said. Hence, its death is being seen as a big loss for the park. Meanwhile in separate incidents, two leopards were also found dead in Kumaon and Garhwal divisions. A five-year-old leopard was found lying dead in a drain in Thalisain range of forests in Garhwal while an eight month-old leopard cub was found dead at Chitkal village near Gangolihat in Kumaon, forest official said.PTI ALM DV