Tiger Fatally Struck By Speeding Car Near Mysuru Airport; Driver On The Run

A male tiger was killed after being run over by a speeding car near the Mysuru airport in the suburbs of Mysuru city on Sunday night, as reported by forest officials.

The one-and-a-half-year-old tiger was among the four cubs that used to be spotted with their mother in the region previously, according to them.

Photo Credit: PTI/Instagram-StarOfMysore

Car hits a Mysore Tiger

"The incident occurred last night near the airport on the Nanjangud highway. The vehicle has been seized, but the driver is absconding. The details of the owner and driver have been obtained," stated Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Kumar Pushkar, reported Indian Express.

Taking to Instagram, one of the users by the name Starofmysore wrote, "A tragic incident occurred last night as a one-and-a-half-year-old male tiger that strayed into urban areas searching for food, identified as T-6, was fatally sCar by a speeding car near Mysore Airport on Nanjangud Road between 11.30 pm and 12.15 am."

The Mysore region is connected to three major wildlife reserves in Karnataka - Bandipur, Nagarahole, and the Bilgiri Rangaswamy Temple tiger reserves. The Bandipur and Nagarahole forests have the highest tiger population in the state.

In the latest report of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), Karnataka is noted to have the second-highest number of tigers in the country (563), after Madhya Pradesh. There has been an increase of 37 tigers in Karnataka since 2018, as per the NTCA count.

State reports for tiger counts have indicated that the tiger numbers at Bandipur are 140, while the NTCA has recorded the number at 150. According to state reports, the number of tigers in Nagarahole is 149, but as per the NTCA report, it is 141.

The number of tigers migrating through the Bandipur reserve from adjoining forests is estimated at 191, while the corresponding number in Nagarahole is 185. Bandipur has India's second-highest tiger population after the Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand.

The tiger population in other Karnataka reserves is reported as Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple 37, Bhadra 28, and Kali 14.