DEAD RBT MIGHT HAVE SUFFERED HEART FAILURE’
1
2
3
4
5
0
The carcass of a Royal Bengal Tiger (RBT) found in
the Jhalialiti beat under the Chandali Reserve Forest under the Lathore range
on December 28, has brought the plight of wild animals like RBTs to the
fore in the western parts of Odisha, much to the dismay and disbelief of wild
animal lovers here and in the State.
The body of the RBT was found at a place just near
the Nuapada district border and 105 km from the district headquarters here.
“We got information about the carcass of RBT
around 4.30 pm on December 28. Immediately I directed the field staff to rush
to the spot and check the report and after that the dead body was brought to
Lathore Forest Range of Bolangir Forest Division,” said Balangir DFO and Wild
Life Warden Rashmi Ranjan Nayak.
The length of the tiger was 9 feet 3 inch (from
nose tip to beginning of tail and the tail was 3 feet 1 inch and its pug size
was 13.5 cm and 14 cm. Its age was 12 years, he added.
A team of seven veterinary doctors comprising Dr
Subash Samanta, Dr K Marandi, Dr SK Naik, Dr Sujit Kumar Satpathy, Dr Ashok
Kumar Dash, ADVO GK Sahu and CDVO SK Dash conducted post mortem in the presence
of Honorary Wildlife Warden of Balangir Dr Dolagobind Bishi and Sudhir Kumar
Mishra and local representative of National Tiger conservation Authority (NTCA)
as per the guidelines of NTCA.
After the postmortem was conducted, the tiger’s
body was consigned to flames as per the standard operating procedures of NTCA.
The death of the RBT raised suspicions and many theories here.
However, according to sources, preliminary
postmortem investigation indicates that the death of tiger is due to “suspected
congestive heart failure”. We have collected samples of various body parts of
the RBT and it would be sent to further examination to Bhubaneswar, said Dr GK
Sahu. The exact cause of death would be known only after its final report, he
adds further.
“There were some reports about the movement of RBT
in the district. In the last Tiger Census we had submitted the pug mark of RBT
to the State authorities. However, the State authorities rejected that sample
of pug mark,” said DFO Nayak.
The appearance of RBT just on the border of Nuapada
district indicates that most likely it have come from Sunabeda Sanctuary of
Nuapada district.
Interestingly, the tiger’s body was intact with no
sign of either abrasion or cut mark on the body and in other parts and any sign
of poisoning. It was well grown tiger. As the tiger was old and weak it is
likely to have suffered a congestive heart failure and died there.
According to sources, a tiger may travel more than
100 km in day and operates in a territory of 250sq area kilometer. If it gets
food and shelter, normally he does not come out. This tiger which was 12 years
might not be able to kill animals for preying and strayed to human habitation
in search of easy food and suffered an attack.
With this death of the tiger, the total number of
RBTs in the State has gone down to 39 from 40. The State Government
should strengthen the mechanism to monitor the movement of tigers in the State,
failing which such type of tiger deaths cannot be ruled out in future, said the
animal lovers.
No comments:
Post a Comment