Gujarat: Tiger found dead in Mahisagar, days after first sighting

Ahmedabad, Feb 27: A tiger was found dead at Kantar village in Mahisagar district of Gujarat on Tuesday, days after the forest department confirmed spotting of a tig er in the state for the first time in three decades.

Chief Conservator of Forests, Vadodara, S K Srivastava, said the tiger's carcass was found at Kantar village in the forest area of Lunawada taluka of Mahisagar district on Tuesday evening.

The cause of its death has not been ascertained yet, he said.

Forest officials, however, did not confirm whether it was the same tiger that was captured by a teacher on his phone camera and later by camera traps in Mahisagar forest range.

The possibility that this tiger may be the same one spotted in camera traps is, however, high since there have been no tangible evidence of the presence of any other tiger in the area.

"We have found the carcass of the tiger at Kantar village of Mahisagar district. We are yet to ascertain the cause of death as to whether it was poached or died due to some other cause," he said.

"Its post-mortem is being conducted. It cannot be confirmed as of now whether this tiger is the same one that was spotted two weeks back," the forest official said.

Srivastava said after the presence of the tiger was confirmed, the state forest department organised over 150 camps in villages around the area about its presence in the district with an aim to create awareness.

"There was no reason to capture the tiger that we had found. We held camps in 150 villages and educated people about its conservation. Its death is being investigated as per the guidelines of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA)," he said.

On February 12, the state government had confirmed the presence of a tiger, aged 7 to 8 years, after it was captured on a camera trap. A few days prior to that a man had claimed that he had spotted a tiger crossing the road.