3 tigers found dead in Jim Corbett Park, probe on

Last Updated: Monday, June 03, 2013 

Zee Media Bureau

Dehradun: At a time when the government is taking all out efforts to increase the population of tigers in India, three big cats have been found dead in the famous Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand in the past one week.

Reports on Monday said that the decomposed body of a two-and-half-year-old male tiger was found in the western part of the reserve, close to a water body, on Saturday.

A total of nine tigers have died so far in the Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve in the past one year.

The forest officials, who are trying to ascertain the causes of the tigers deaths in the Corbett Park, suspect poachers’ hand behind the crisis.

Corbett Field Director Samir Sinha has reportedly ordered the forest officials to take more measures and incrased patrolling to ensure safety of big cats.

Meanwhile, the forest department has also taken four Gujjars into custody for further interrogation in connection with the recent tiger deaths.

The dead bodies of the three big cats were found in a decomposed state suggesting they died days before being found. All this has raising doubts over the way patrolling is being carried out in the tiger landscape of Kumaon's tarai region.

The tiger population in India is estimated to be 1,706 with close to 200 big cats in the Corbett Tiger Reserve.

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