Guwahati, Jan 5: The carcass of a female tiger was found on January 4 in the Paschim Bimoli area of the Western Range, Bagori, inside Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve, officials said.
Park authorities said the carcass was located well within the protected area, and preliminary assessment indicated that the tigress died due to natural conflict. Kaziranga National Park Director and Divisional Forest Officer Arun Vignesh said a post-mortem examination was conducted by a duly constituted committee in accordance with the standard operating procedures of the National Tiger Conservation Authority.
Vignesh said the findings strongly suggested that the death resulted from infighting, which is considered a common natural cause among big cats in the wild.
In a separate incident earlier, personnel of the Biswanath Wildlife Division of Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve recovered bones of a Royal Bengal Tiger and arrested five persons for illegal possession and attempting to sell wildlife parts.
Field Director Dr Sonali Ghosh said the recovery was made from the possession of Depen Pegu of Simaluguri Baligaon in the Gohpur area. The joint operation was carried out by teams from the Eastern Range, Gamaria, and the Crime Investigation Range, Panibharal.
She said all five accused were apprehended on November 22 while allegedly attempting to sell the wildlife trophy. The arrested persons were identified as Eilaram Doley, Ripun Pegu, Kerani Kaman, Pulish Kutum and Depen Pegu.
Investigations revealed that the accused were allegedly linked to past offenders involved in rhino poaching cases, raising concerns over organised wildlife crime networks operating in the region. Forest officials said further investigation is underway and strict action will be taken under the Wildlife (Protection) Act.
