Six men detained after five tigers found poisoned to death in MM Hills wildlife sanctuary

CHAMARAJANAGAR: Following the deaths of five tigers — a tigress and her four cubs — in the Hoogyam forest range of the Male Mahadeshwara wildlife sanctuary on Thursday, the Forest Department officials on Friday arrested two men and detained four others from Koppa village for questioning.

The Forest Department had formed a team to investigate the deaths and officials, under ACF Gajanana Hegde, were on the lookout for cattle owners in Gajanur, Koppa and Meenyam villages. It is suspected that cattle meat was poisoned to kill the tigers.

Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) T Hiralal confirmed that the tigers had died of poisoning. “The tigress was eight years old while the four cubs were 10 months old. They died after consuming poisoned cattle meat and lab tests will determine what sort of poison was used, whether the cow meat was poisoned after the tiger had killed it or earlier”.

“The death occurred three days ago and the tigress attacked the cow from behind. Samples of the cow and the tigers have been sent for forensic analysis. There are allegations that the forest watchers’ salaries were delayed due to which they did not carry out patrolling. All these issues will be investigated by the department”, Hiralal said.

Environment Minister Eshwar Khandre, who visited the spot where the tigers had died, collected information from the officials. “Veterinarians say the tigers were poisoned and strict action will be taken against those responsible for the deaths. In the coming days, patrolling will be intensified and drones and satellites will also be used. A high-level inquiry is on to establish whether there was any lapse by the officials”, he said.

The minister said a six-member committee, headed by Principal Chief Conservator of Forests B P Ravi and including National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTC) representative Malleshappa will conduct a comprehensive investigation.

A dead cow and a container of phorate pesticide were found close to where the tigers had died. The autopsy on the tigress was conducted on Thursday and the post-mortem examination on the four cubs was conducted on Friday. All the tigers were cremated as per NTCA norms in the presence of minister Khandre.