Bhopal: In a rare instance of cannibalism among tigers, an adult tigress was killed and devoured by a tiger in Kanha National Park of Madhya Pradesh.
According to a report in The Times of India, the partial remains of the tigress, including the skull and paws, were found on Saturday and the viscera has been sent for further analysis.
The parts of the carcass scattered in the forest were discovered by a patrol team at Mundidadar. After further probe, officials said that since the claws and canines teeth were intact, the possibility of any kind of foul play is ruled out. Meanwhile, representatives from World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) have surveyed the area and submitted a preliminary report.
Kanha’s field director K Krishnamurthy told TOI that the killed beast was a tigress, while the cannibal was a tiger. Calling this a “rarest case” when the body of a tiger has been eaten to such an extent, he added that this seems to be a case of territorial dispute.
According to the report, an official has attributed cases of infighting among tigers to issues of territorial supremacy or moving more than 200 km from their place of birth and meeting unnatural deaths. Almost all tiger reserves have already exceeded their carrying capacity, he said adding “This shows that forest department has made good conservation efforts. But, now we must think about extending more protection to the tiger corridors and territorial divisions.”
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