Tigers found dead in TN's Nilgiris district

Udhagamandalam (Tamil Nadu), Aug 20 (PTI) A tigress and her cub were found dead under mysterious circumstances at an estate near Gudalur in Nilgiris district, a senior forest official said on Tuesday.

The carcasses of the wild cats which had "external bleeding injuries" were found at some distance from each other, he said.

"A team from the forest department, upon being informed, rushed to the estate pathway and found a sub-adult tiger dead. They also found a tigress, which might be the mother of the dead sub-adult tiger at an aerial distance of about 75 m in a marsh within the estate," the official said.

Both had external injuries and raised suspicion about the nature of their deaths, he said.

It has been planned to conduct a post-mortem by a Veterinary assistant surgeon from the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) in the presence of non-governmental organisations as per a protocol of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).

"As per the NTCA SOP on tiger death, 500 m radius is taken as a crime scene and our staff, organised in two teams, are perambulating the 'crime scene' area and also the neighbourhood, for any evidence," the official said. PTI COR JSP ROH