Bhubaneswar: The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has sought a detailed report from the state Forest and Environment Department following the death of a tiger whose decomposed carcass was found buried under a pit in the Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary in Odisha’s Bargarh district on October 28.
In a letter, the NTCA has asked the department to furnish a detailed report on the circumstances and the cause of the death of the tiger and the action it has taken so far. Besides, the NTCA has also asked the department to strictly adhere to the standard operating procedure (SOP) for the safety and protection of the tiger.
While it was initially suspected that the carcass was that of a Royal Bengal tiger, the Forest Department had later confirmed that it was of a leopard. Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) Sandip Tripathy, who visited the sanctuary following the incident, said that the post-mortem report has revealed that the carcass was of a leopard of around two to three weeks old.
Forest and Environment Minister, Bijayshree Routray, had also said that the forensic test suggests that the carcass of the leopard was buried after its death. He further said that the carcass had been sent
to the forensic laboratory in Dehradun to ascertain the cause of the death of the leopard.
The Forest Department had recently found the presence of a Royal Bengal tiger in Debrigarh sanctuary through trap cameras installed at various locations in the core forest area.
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