Tiger that migrated from Maharashtra to Telangana found dead in Mancherial district

A three-year-old male tiger was found dead by forest officials of Mancherial district in the forest area of Pinnaram village in Kotapalli mandal on Saturday.

According to officials, the tiger was killed after it came into contact with live wires laid by some locals to hunt wild boar.

Forest officials have arrested three villagers for the death, but have described the case as accidental, since none of the tiger's body parts were damaged or missing.

"On seeing the tiger falling prey to the live wires, the poachers got scared and tried to bury the carcass," Mancherial District Forest Officer B. Prabhakar told The Hindu.

He also mentioned that the tiger had previously been sighted 15 days ago near Pangidi Somaram, where it had killed a domestic animal.

The incident came to light after villagers detected a foul stench coming from the area and informed the forest officials.

After forest staff dug in the area, they found the carcass buried under sand.

This is not the first case in which a tiger has been electrocuted by illegal live wires. According to reports, in 2011, two tigers were found dead after falling on illegally-erected live wire fencing around agricultural fields.

Tigers have also fallen prey recently to poachers in the region. Recently, officials recovered a tiger skin in Bejjur and arrested two persons in connection with it. Four others were also arrested in Maharashtra. It is reported to be a general practice for poachers to skin the dead tiger soon after killing it. However, in the latest case, the carcass had not been skinned.

The Deccan Chronicle reported that around nine tigers that have migrated in the Sirpur (T) and Bejjur mandals from Tadoba Andhari tiger reserve in Maharashtra, have suddenly disappeared. However, it has not yet been confirmed if the tigers have returned to Maharashtra or if they have been killed.

According to The Times of India, the tiger found dead on Saturday was one of the first to move into the Telangana forest, having migrated either from the Kagaznagar forests or Maharashtra a few months ago.