A six-year-old male tiger was found dead in the Sajjangarh Biological Park in Rajasthan’s Udaipur on Wednesday, a day after it was relocated from state’s Ranthambore tiger reserve, people familiar with the matter said.
Senior forest officials said the cause of the death of the tiger T-104, named Chikku, will be ascertained after the autopsy report. However, some officials, requesting anonymity, said prima facie overdose of tranquilizer could be a probable reason.
The tiger, which was declared “man-eater” and threat to human life after it killed three people in 2019, was kept in an enclosure at the Beed Naka area of Ranthambore since early 2020 before being shifted to Udaipur on Tuesday after nod from the National Tiger Conservation Authority, officials said.
District forest officer (DFO) Udaipur Ajay Chittora said the tiger was kept under observation after it was shifted to the biological park on Tuesday. “Initially, the tiger had the food and behaved normally. But its health deteriorated late in the night and was found dead in the morning,” Chittora said. “The reason of the tiger’s death is yet to ascertained. The cause of death will be known after getting the post-mortem [examination] report.”
Forest officials aware of the matter said the tiger was tranquilised around 6.30pm on Tuesday after which it was shifted to the park. Blocks of ice were kept inside its cage, keeping in view the summer heat, they added.
“It could be possible that the tiger died of overdose of the drug used for tranquilising,” said an official, declining to be named.
Chikku was one of the most photographed male tigers of the Ranthambore National Park, where it had been living since its birth to tigress T-41 and tiger T-74, six years ago.