Tigress found dead in Corbett was killed with poison, say authorities

Dehradun: The tigress found dead at the Corbett Tiger Reserve earlier this month was poisoned to death, CTR authorities today said.Traces of poison were found in the body of the tigress whose putrefying carcass was recovered on 18 January under suspicious circumstances from the buffer zone of the tiger reserve, CTR Director Ranjan Kumar Mishra said.[caption id="attachment_607065" align="alignleft" width="380"] Poachers may have been involved in the death of the tigress. Reuters[/caption]He said it could be the handiwork of poachers or people inhabiting the settlements adjoining the reserve.The viscera of the tigress is being sent to the wildlife research institute at Bareily in Uttar Pradesh to find out how the poison found its way into its body, he said.The carcass of the mature 6-7-year-old tigress was found lying by a stream in the Jhirna range of the reserve forest on 18 January, giving rise to suspicion about its being poisoned to death as its limbs were intact and Gujjars, traditional hunters, inhabit the settlements surrounding the spot from where it was recovered.PTI