16 Sep 2020




BHOPAL: Will Panna tigers be pushed back to oblivion, again? With five tigers dead in just eight months — including one floating in Ken river, beheaded and with its genitals severed — the forest ministry has set up a central team to probe the deaths.
Investigators here are digging out a cold case where a beheaded tiger was found floating in the same river in 2005.

The ministry’s team, comprising senior officers from NTCA, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) and wildlife Trust of India (WTI), will investigate the “circumstances leading to the disturbing developments inside Panna Tiger Reserve”.
It was the death of tiger P123 that put wildlife officials on their toes. Its headless carcass was found floating in Ken near PTR’s Hinauta range on August 9.

After it was pulled ashore, foresters realized its paws and genitals had been severed. It reminded investigators of a similar case 15 years earlier, which remains unsolved.

more details