Tadoba reserve’s tigress Maya may have died; DNA sample sent for confirmation

NAGPUR: Maya, a 13-year-old tigress in Maharashtra’s Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) that was last spotted in August, may have died, people familiar with the matter said after a tigress’s carcass was spotted in the jungle on Saturday evening.

Maya’s last sighting was on August 23 in the Panchdhara area near Tadoba Lake, when the park was closed for two months because of monsoons. When the tigress wasn’t spotted after the park reopened on October 1, extensive monitoring operations were initiated in her known territory from October 7 utilising camera traps and regular patrolling in the area encompassing Tadoba and Kolara ranges, recognised as her territory.

Forest guards and wildlife wing personnel found a skeleton in forest compartment number 82 in Tadoba on Saturday. The remains of a tiger skeleton were scattered over a 100m radius and were collected for DNA analysis by wildlife veterinarians and biologists. The parts were at an advanced stage of decomposition.

The bones and other body parts were found by the team in the same territory as the one occupied by T-12, said Nandkishore Kale, deputy director (core).

The samples are being sent for DNA analysis to the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru and the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, to be matched with DNA samples of T-12 collected during an ongoing scientific study, said Dr Jitendra Ramgaonkar, chief conservator of forests and field director, TATR.

Kale added that the DNA reports are expected by November 30.

This is the second tiger death to be reported from the tiger reserve over the last few days. On November 14, Bajrang, a prominent attraction for tourists in Maharashtra’s famous Tadoba Andhari tiger reserve, died in a fierce territorial battle with another tiger at Wahangaon village under the Chimur forest range.

Wildlife conservationists in Chandrapur speculated that Maya (T-12) may have been killed in a territorial fight with other tigresses Bijli and Roma, the two daughters of Chhoti Tara, who are currently ruling Maya’s turf.