Forest officials of the Malyattoor division are busy recreating a ‘possible encounter’ involving two tigers over an elephant carcass in their efforts to solve the mystery over animal deaths.
What they have at hand for the unusual job are the decomposed carcasses of a tigress and an elephant, post-mortem examination reports, and reports of presence of another tiger.
It all began with beat forest officials spotting the carcasses at Kulathupatti in the Edamalayar forest range last week. The carcasses were found at a distance of 70 metres from each other.
The ivory and teeth of the elephant were found in its decomposed carcass. The tiger pelt was partially decomposed with its claws, and teeth intact. No evidence of metal snare and bullets could be found, which ruled out the possibility of poaching, said Ravikumar Meena, Divisional Forest Officer, Malayattoor.
The unusual death of the animals took a curious turn with some tribespeople in the locality reporting the presence of another tiger.
“We are trying to recreate the encounter scene with the help of post-mortem examination reports and some scientific evidence. The primary conclusion is that the tiger might have died after fighting with the other one. An analysis of its teeth and bone suggests it was an aged animal. The clash might have taken place between the tigers, which are highly territorial, while one was feeding on the carcass. A detailed report will be submitted to the National Tiger Conservation Authority,” he said.
At the same time, wildlife expert P.O. Nameer felt that the possibility of the tigress falling dead after feeding on the dead elephant needed investigation as it could have been poisoned. “There have been several incidents of poisoning of elephants in the past. The probability of a tiger falling dead after feeding on a poisoned elephant carcass is higher than one being killed in an encounter,” Dr. Nameer, Head, Department of Wildlife Sciences, Kerala Agriculture University, said.
However, Mr. Meena discounted the poisoning theory as he felt that the carcass was found deep inside the forest area where there were no issues of crop raiding by elephants.
