Tiger dies in crop field at Lakhimpur Kheri; sharp bone pierces stomach

Initially, forest officials thought that the tiger was poisoned by someone but later a sharp bone was found piercing its stomach. Since the tiger's death is always a sensitive matter, we registered an FIR and started our investigation, an official said.

Lakhimpur Kheri (Uttar Pradesh) : A two-year-old tiger died under mysterious circumstances, a few minutes after it came out of a forest area and entered a crop field in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri. Forest officials suspect the big cat was poisoned and sent the carcass for post-mortem.

Deputy Director DTR (buffer) Sundaresh, said: "Initially we thought that it was poisoned by someone and we searched for a poisoned carcass, but could not find any near the spot where the tiger died. Since the tiger's death is always a sensitive matter, we registered an FIR and started our investigation."

The autopsy suggested it was nearly 2 years old, its molar and premolar teeth also confirmed its age, said an IANS report. "After examining the carcass, we found that it was ill and there was no food in the stomach. Also, a sharp bone had punctured the stomach wall and it led to septicaemia which probably caused its death," the official said.

However, a detailed autopsy report is awaited. Sundaresh said: "We are checking the stripes of the tiger in our database and it is expected that it had migrated either from the Kishanpur range or the Mailani range of forests." That the tiger died just a few minutes after it came out of the forest sparked suspicions initially over the cause of its death.

However, the sharp bone piercing its stomach led to another theory about its death. The officials are saying that the exact reason for the big cat's death could be known only after reports of a full-fledged autopsy would come out.