Snare kills another big cat; 10 tiger deaths since Dec in Karnataka

Madikeri, Jan 30: A tigress died after it got caught in a snare in Kodagu district. The tigress, aged around 6, was found dead with serious injuries to its pelvis, at Kummatur village in Srimangala, near the Nagarahole Tiger Reserve.

This is the sixth tiger death this month in the Nagarahole and Bandipur region. The state lost 10 big cats between December and January. Of them, eight tigers died in Nagarhole-Bandipur region alone.

Forest officials were informed by locals about the death around 11 a.m. on Sunday. The big cat is suspected to have died either on Friday or Saturday. They suspect that the injuries could have occurred elsewhere since no snare was found around the place where the carcass was found. The big cat died due to grave injuries by the snare, they say.

This is the second tiger death in Kodagu in the last few days because of injuries by snares, which were suspected to have been laid for killing wild boars.

The increase in the number of traps in Kodagu has become a cause of worry for the Forest Department, which said that laying snares to hunt animals was an offence under the wildlife laws.

Conservator of Forests Manoj Kumar said that a case had been registered under Section 9 of the Wildlife Protection Act against unknown persons. Assistant Conservator of Forest Sripathi had been asked to investigate the death of the tigress.

Mr. Kumar said laying a snare was a cognizable and non-bailable offence under Section 51 of the Act, which attracts imprisonment up to three years. The tigress' claws were intact, ruling out the poaching angle.

Probe committee

Meanwhile, a three-member panel has finally been formed to probe the tiger deaths reported in the last two months in Karnataka.

Forests minister Ramanath Rai said, “The issue was discussed at the Tiger Conservation Foundation meeting held recently. We decided to set up a three-member panel which will thoroughly look into the reasons behind the increasing tiger deaths.”

The death of a tigress at Antarsanthe range in Nagarhole forest on January 17 has been mired in controversy. It is yet to be ascertained if the right tiger was darted and also if the dosage was right. The 10-year-old tigress that was tranquillized and captured had died the next morning at Nagarhole allegedly because of an overdose.