Four suspicious tiger deaths in a month in Pench Tiger Reserve of the State have raised serious doubts over the management of the park. A carcass of a tiger was found in the Pench Tiger Reserve on Sunday.
"During patrolling, the ground duty staff found the carcass of the big cat at Gumtara range in the core area of the Reserve", park Field Director S Sen told media persons.
Sen said he along with other officials rushed to the spot and studied the area. According to the officer, the post-mortem and viscera examination reports of the big cat are awaited.
Other officials in the forest department said the tiger was old. This is the fourth tiger death in this tiger reserve in this month, raising serious doubts over the management of the park.
Wildlife activist Ajay Dubey has alleged that the tiger deaths in the tiger reserve could be the handy work of poachers with the help of forest staff and fair and independent enquiry of these deaths should be ordered.
Notably, four tigers have been found dead in the State's Seoni-based Indira Priyadarshini Pench National Park this month.
In the first incident reported in South Junewani Beat in Deolapar forest range, a young male tiger around four years was found dead near the lake of Umari village in Junewani of Deolapar range. The dead tiger is said to be KT23, one of the male cubs of famous Baginnala tigress from MP Pench. The death is shrouded in mystery as bodies of half eaten wild boar and a chital have also been found 100 metres from the dead tiger. Wildlife experts suspect electrocution or poisoning might be reason for the tiger's death.
Second incident was reported from Pench Tiger Reserve, where a young male tiger fell in an open well, probably while chasing its prey near Simariya village in Vijaypani forest circle of Ghatkohoka range. The spot falls in the buffer zone of Pench. The well did not have a boundary wall.
In the third incident, the carcass of a tiger, aged about 2-3 years, was found at Sank village in Chaurai Block on the Chhindwara Road. Prima facie, the tiger was suspected to have died due to electrocution.
The rights activist while talking to 'The Pioneer' over the issue said, "Whenever a tiger is found dead the forest department pledges that every possible measure would be taken so that this type of incidents could not be repeated, but the forest staff has always failed to stop such incidents."
Dubey further said that without forest staff being hand in glove with poachers such incidents could not take place. When there is day-to-day monitoring protocol of tigers in the reserves how come these things took place, he added.
He said that we demand a fair independent enquiry of all the three tiger deaths of Pench National Park.