Maharashtra: Bodies of tigress, cub found in Chandrapur; dehydration, starvation likely causes of death

The bodies of a tigress and a cub were found in Maharashtra's Chandrapur district, with forest officials on Sunday citing dehydration and starvation as possible causes for the death of the cub.

The carcass of the 4-month-old cub was found on Friday evening in Dongargaon beat in compartment 163 of Dhaba range, while a search of the vicinity led to the recovery of the dead body of a tigress on Saturday in compartment 161, an official said.

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The site is some 78 kilometres away from the district headquarters, he added. "All the organs of the female cub were intact and, prima facie, it seems it died of dehydration. However, the death of the tigress is under investigation as the body has decomposed," he said.

"Representatives of the animal husbandry department, forest department and the National Tiger Conservation Authority are probing the case and have already completed the panchnama. Organ samples are being sent to the Forensic Sciences Laboratory here," he added.