Tiger cub found dead in Corbett Tiger Reserve, second tiger death reported from reserve

A carcass of a five-month-old tiger cub was found in Jhirna range of Uttarakhand’s Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR) on Friday. This is the second tiger to have died in CTR this year.

Rahul, who only uses his first name, director, CTR, said that the tiger was spotted by forest officials in the Laldhang beat of Jhirna range.

“A five-month-old tiger cub was found dead by forest staff in the Jhirna range. The post-mortem report has revealed it died due to dehydration and hunger. This is the second tiger to have died in CTR this year,” said Rahul.

On May 29, a carcass of a 10-year-old tigress was found in CTR’s Jhirna range.

The tigress had injury marks on its neck and was likely to have died due to infighting with another tigress or tiger, officials had said.

“Patrolling staff of the park spotted the carcass of the tigress in Jhirna range. The tigress had injury marks, which hinted that it likely to have died due to infighting with another tiger or tigress,” Rahul had said.

The death of a Big Cat is not an isolated incident in the Kumaon region, as many carcasses have been found in the past two years.

In the second week of April, the carcass of a five-year-old male tiger was found in the Ramnagar forest division near CTR.

Last December, the carcass of a tigress was found in CTR’s Bijrani zone.

Last September, a tigress was killed in CTR’s Dhela zone.

Last May, the carcass of a male tiger was found in Corbett’s Bijrani zone.

In the same month, the carcass of another tiger was found in the Corbett landscape under a culvert in Ringoda stream.

Corbett and its surroundings have one of the highest tiger densities in the world.

At present, CTR is estimated to have a tiger population of 260, according to state forest officials.

Ramnagar forest division has over 14 tigers per 100 square kilometres (km), while CTR has 9.4 tigers per 100 sq km, according to experts.