the goan I network
VALPOI
Stating that preliminary investigation had revealed poisoning as the cause of the tiger’s death, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday voiced deep pain and concern over the incident and has ordered a thorough inquiry in the matter.
“The chief minister is deeply pained and concerned by the death of a tiger in Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary. The preliminary investigation has revealed poisoning as the cause of death. Therefore, the CM has ordered a thorough inquiry in the matter,” stated Sawant in a tweet on Monday night.
A day after a tiger was found dead in Golavali-Sattari, forest officials combed the area on Monday in search of clues and had claimed that the post mortem on Monday had been inconclusive on the exact cause of death.
Samples will now be sent to a laboratory at Dehradun to ascertain the cause of the death, said a forest official.
Combing operations were undertaken by a forest team to locate any suspicious activity in and around the spot where the tiger was found dead in the forest and the team is reported to have sighted another tiger about 1 km away from the site.
According to reports, the 4-year-old tiger was found dead near a natural water body at Sidheshwar Peth in Golavali, when locals had gone to perform some rituals.
After locals notified the
forest department, a team headed by Deputy Conservator of Forest Vikas Desai had rushed to the spot and conducted investigations, but the autopsy could not be performed on Sunday night.
On Monday morning, two veterinarians were pressed into service to conduct the autopsy but the body had been badly decomposed.
Speaking to reporters, Wildlife Warden Santosh Kumar said it was difficult to ascertain the exact cause of the death.
“Since the body was badly decomposed, some samples were collected during the autopsy and will be sent for lab analysis in Dehradun to ascertain the cause of the death,” said Kumar.
On Monday, a forest team undertook combing operations across a 2 km radius from where the tiger was found dead, in a bid to locate suspicious activity but the forest team was unable to locate anything linked to the death of the tiger,” said Kumar.
“During the combing operations, one tiger was sighted about 1 km from the site and carcasses of many wild animals were also found,” Kumar added.
Forest officials are also likely to record the statements of locals as part of investigations into the death of the tiger.
After conducted necessary investigations, the carcass of tiger was disposed off near the spot.
