‘Satkosia Bengal Tiger Died Of Multiple Organ Failure’

Bhubaneswar: Five days after the death of Mahavir, the male Royal Bengal tiger, whose carcass was found inside a bush in the Satkosia sanctuary on November 14, the Forest Department on Monday said that the death of the Bengal tiger was due to a multiple organ failure because of a wound in its shoulder region.

Giving this information to the media this afternoon, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (APCCF) and Field Director of Satkosia Tiger Reserve, Sudarsan Panda, said a team of veterinary doctors, who had conducted the postmortem of the tiger, have submitted the report to the Satkosia DFO on November 17 a xerox copy of which he received here today.

He further said the tissues and organs of the Bengal tiger, which were preserved by the post-mortem team, have been sent to different laboratories for a test. “The team will submit its final report to the Forest Department after receiving the reports from the laboratories,” Panda added.

Asked about the reason of the wound on the tiger’s shoulder, he said the team has not mentioned any reason. “I can only say after the laboratories send the sample test reports,” he pointed out.

Asked whether the wound was due to the net or any sharp weapon, Panda said, “There was no sharp object inside its neck but some broken spines of a porcupine and hair of a wild boar were found from its stomach.”

He was also present during the postmortem.

Referring to Sundari’s behaviour in the enclosure at Raigoda inside the core area of Satkosia, Panda said a team of officials of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) had come to Satkosia on November 16 in the morning following Mahavir’s death. Later, it had gone to Raigoda in the evening to observe Sundari’s behaviour. The team had again gone to Raigoda the next morning to observe the movement of the tigress.

“The team had later given its statement to the media that the tigress is in good condition,” he said.

However, he requested the media not to report misleading and wrong news about Sundari’s condition. “Instead of sensitizing the issue, the media should furnish correct information according to the facts,” Panda said.