Maharashtra: Tiger that killed five people dies at rescue centre

The official also said a male tiger captured from Chandrapur and brought to the centre on June 12 died on Monday morning. (File/representational)

A TIGRESS that had strayed into a village was captured and brought to Nagpur’s Gorewada rescue centre on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, while a “problem” tiger, which had killed five people in Chandrapur and was captured by the forest department, died at the centre on Monday morning.

According to the forest department, the tigress had barged into a house on the fringes of Baamni village around 6.30 pm in Nagbhid tehsil of Chandrapur district on Sunday night. “We learned that it had entered Baamni village. A team went there and, around 10.30 pm, captured the tigress after a lot of disturbance; there were numerous onlookers,” said Chief Conservator of Forest Rama Rao.

He added, “The tigress was found injured and was sent to Gorewada rescue centre for treatment.”

A senior official at Nagpur said, “The tigress appears to be old with blunt canines and has an injury on its neck, which seems to be caused by a snare.”

The official also said a male tiger captured from Chandrapur and brought to the centre on June 12 died on Monday morning. “It was gasping in the morning and then fell silent,” he said.

The official added, “It was showing aggression ever since it was brought to the centre and wasn’t eating much. Doctors are performing a post-mortem and we will know the cause of death only after that. We have not ruled out snakebite.”