Tigress found dead in Dhela zone of Corbett Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand

A four-year-old tigress was found dead in the Dhela zone of the Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR) on Saturday morning on International Tiger Day, officials of the Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand said.

Forest officials said they came to know about it after nearby villagers spotted the tiger's body near the Dhela bridge and informed them.

Officials rushed to the spot and her body was sent for post-mortem to ascertain the exact cause of death, but prima facie it appears that the tigress was killed in a territorial fight, said Dheeraj Pandey, director of CTR.

"We received information about the tigress's corpse around eight o'clock in the morning on Saturday. Prima facie, it appears that the tigress may have lost her life in a territorial fight as several wounds are visible on her body. However, the exact cause of her death could be ascertained only after the post-mortem,” Pandey said.

In February this year, a tigress was found dead in the CTR buffer zone. According to the All-India Tiger Estimation Report 2018, released in 2020, there are 442 tigers in Uttarakhand.

The Himalayan state's tiger population has grown from 178 in 2006 to 442 (including 231 out of 266 tigers in Corbett) in 2018. With 14 tigers per 100 km2, the Corbett Tiger Reserve has the highest tiger density of India's 50 reserves.