Korea: A tiger was found dead under mysterious circumstances in Korea district of Chhattisgarh on Friday with the Forest Department officials suspecting poisoning to be the cause of death.
Chief Forest Conservator , V Mateshwaran told ETV Bharat that on Friday, locals informed that a tiger's body was found on the banks of Khankhoppar drain near Katwar village located on the border area of Guru Ghasidas National Park and Korea Forest Division.
“We reached there with the whole team. We conducted an intensive search operation. The help of sniffer dogs was also taken. We are conducting a joint survey in this area to find out where this tiger came from. We are also finding out how the tiger died,” Mateshwaran said.
Postmortem conducted: A team of four veterinarians also reached the spot and conducted the postmortem of the tiger's carcass. The forest department team said that the actual cause of death will be known in the postmortem report.
The tiger was cremated by the locals on Saturday after the Forest department conducted the legal formalities in this regard.
Natural Death or poaching?
The Forest department has ruled out speculations about the poaching of the big cat. In a joint press release, the concerned officials of the Guru Ghasidad National Park and Korea Forest Divisional Officer said that all the body parts of the big cat including skin, teeth and nails were found intact by the joint team in the carcass of the tiger. “All possible reasons for the tiger's death are being investigated,” reads the joint press release.
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