Tigress found dead in forest near Coimbatore; fight with other carnivore suspected

An adult tigress found dead in the forest near Sirumugai in Coimbatore district on Friday may have died in a fight with another carnivore, forest department officials said on Saturday.

Senior officials said the tigress’s carcass bore injuries inflicted by another predator, possibly a tiger. Field officials discovered the carcass of the eight-nine-year-old big cat on Friday while patrolling in Uliyur district in the Pethikuttai section of Sirumugai forest range. The carcass was found partially submerged in a stream called Thattapallam Odai.

A team of veterinarians comprising forest veterinarian S. Sathasivam of Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve and assistant veterinarians C. Thiyagarajan and Vediyappan of Sirumugai and Irumborai respectively performed the postmortem of the carcass as per the guidelines of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).

Deputy Forest Officer Vijay Kumar, Sirumugai Forest Officer K. Manoj, staff and representatives of NGOs were present. The veterinarians collected samples from the carcass for forensic analysis.

Mr. Manoj said all the tiger’s claws and canine teeth were intact and the carcass did not have any unnatural injuries. The carcass was cremated after the autopsy.