28 Feb, 2019

Disrupting Natural Cycle as Tiger Kills and Feed on Two Tigers in Kanha National Park

In a rare incident, two more tigers were killed and eaten by another tiger inside the Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh. This news has come after another tigress was found dead and eaten by the same tiger on January 19. This recent news has compelled the Forest officials to examine the trend of cannibalistic behaviour in tigers within the protected area.

In case you didn’t know

On January 20, it was reported that a tiger killed and eaten by another tiger in Kanha National Park. This was in sync with the recent trend of cannibalism amongst big cats across the various wildlife reserves in the country. Only remaining tiger remains that were found from the site was its paws and parts of the skull. Other parts of the body were scattered throughout the park, which was found by Forest Rangers.

The heart of the matter

Although tigers kill each other to prove their dominance and save their territory, cannibalistic behaviour has puzzled the authorities.

On February 27, forest officials discovered the tiger feeding on its kill, which turned out to be another tiger. The officials also confirmed that it is the same tiger who killed another big cat last month. The carcass was found at the Kanhari region around 9:20 in the morning and an adult tiger was seen feeding on it.

Cannibalism in tigers

Cannibalism in tigers isn’t an uncommon phenomenon but under the current circumstances where tigers are provided with everything, officials are puzzled about the reason for tigers feeding on one another. The officials say that Kanha has enough preys for tigers and territory is also enough. However, they say that they would analyse the male-female ratio. The tiger who is suspected to have killed other tigers is T-64.

However, the officials would conduct a postmortem and would begin the enquiry into the cannibalistic nature of existing big cats in the sanctuary.

What lies ahead?

The officials are still searching for answers. The first priority of the officials is to identify the suspect and monitor its movements. They would also need to assess the reason for such behaviour.

Image Source- Times of India

Writer- Ashwini Kumar Singh