Tigress found dead in Kanha park

[Mrudul Godbole]

BHOPAL: A 14-month-old tigress who was injured in a fight with another tiger has been found dead at the Kanha tiger reserve in eastern Madhya
Pradesh, officials said on Wednesday.

"The partially eaten body of the tigress, aged about 14 months, was found in the meadow area of Kanha. The park staff saw a tiger eating the body Tuesday morning," Kanha field director H.S. Negi said.

The cause of death was confirmed after the post-mortem report came in. "The post-mortem examination of the tigress carried out suggested death due to fighting with another tiger," said Negi, adding that the body was disposed off by the park authorities as per the norms of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).

This is the sixth case in the Kanha park in 2009 of a tiger being killed by another. Negi said this was due to the high tiger population density in the park.

Link - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/h...ow/5196578.cms

[Sabyasachi Patra]

A major portion of the deaths of adolescent tigers happen at the hands of other tigers, or at the hands of man.

I disagree with the reason given. The tiger density in Kanha is much less than Nagarhole and Kaziranga. The important aspect that is often overlooked is the prey density. If one looks at the hunting records from the british era, one can find that they used to shoot 10-11 tigers from the same patch. The high prey density resulted in tigers staying in smaller patches of forests. When the prey base is less, the tiger needs to carve out a larger territory and hence they come in contact with each other.

It has become a kind of norm these days to skirt the core issues and attribute superficial reasons.

Sabyasachi