25-05-2025
2 carcasses found in Kaziranga, 5 tiger deaths reported in Assam this year
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Guwahati: Days after the brutal killing of an adult Royal Bengal tiger by a mob in Golaghat district, officials revealed on Sunday that two more tiger carcasses — a cub and a full-grown adult — were discovered in Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR) over the past two days.
With these two carcasses, the total number of reported tiger deaths in Assam this year has risen to five, sparking concern among conservationists.
On Sunday morning, forest staff discovered the carcass of a tiger cub in the Burhapahar range of Kaziranga (Nagaon district). A day earlier, the decomposed remains of an adult tiger were recovered from a wooded area in the Kohora range of Golaghat district.
Eastern Assam wildlife division's divisional forest officer (DFO) Arun Vignesh said, a postmortem was performed before the carcass was cremated.
"According to doctors, the tiger (found in Kohora) likely died around 10 days ago. Since its body parts were intact, preliminary investigations suggest a natural death," the DFO said, adding that a final confirmation would come after the detailed postmortem report.
The sex of the tiger could not be determined due to the state of decomposition.
In the second case, a postmortem on the carcass of the tiger cub was carried out at the site.
"It appears the cub's death resulted from injuries sustained in an attack by another tiger, likely due to infighting," the DFO said. Preliminary findings indicate the cub was a 12-month-old male. After the examination, the carcass was cremated.
Kaziranga is home to an estimated 104 tigers, according to the last All India Tiger Estimation conducted in 2022.
These incidents follow last week's mob killing of a Royal Bengal tiger in Khumtai (Golaghat district). Prior to these three recent cases, two other tiger carcasses had already been found this year — one in Orang National Park and another in Biswanath Wildlife Division — intensifying concerns over tiger conservation.
The Royal Bengal tiger is listed as "endangered" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of threatened species and is protected under India's Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
