In 24 hours, Kanha Reserve loses popular ‘Balaghat Male Tiger’, two cubs

A male tiger and two female cubs were found dead in Madhya Pradesh's Kanha Tiger Reserve, killed in separate territorial fights with other big cats. Post-mortems confirmed the cause, and carcasses were disposed of per NTCA guidelines

Mandla: Carcasses of a tiger and two female cubs found dead in different parts of Madhya Pradesh’s Kanha Tiger Reserve (KTR) on the same day were disposed of, after the post-mortem revealed that they were killed by other big cats, an official said on Friday.

The deceased big cat, aged around eight to 10 years old, has been identified as the “Balaghat Male Tiger”, who was frequently sighted by visitors at the reserve, he said.

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He was found dead in the Mukhi range on Thursday, the official said.

The tiger, weighing 170 to 180 kg, had wounds inflicted on its trachea, suggesting it succumbed in a fight with another big cat, he said.

The reserve extends up to Balaghat, a Naxal-affected district that shares borders with Mandla.

For the last couple of days, the tiger had been hanging around in the buffer area, and possibly wandered into the core area, landing in the territory of another big cat that killed it, the official said.

The carcass was consigned to flames as per the guidelines of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), he added.

Two female cubs found in the Kanha range on Thursday were killed by an adult tiger, the official said.  According to officials, the last tiger count revealed that the KTR had the highest number of 137 big cats in the state.

Madhya Pradesh is home to 785 tigers, the highest in the country, according to the census conducted in 2022.