21 Jan, 2019

A Rare Cannibal Act by a Tiger in Kanha National Park

With harbouring around 10% of India’s and 20% of World’s tiger population, Madhya Pradesh was declared as a ‘Tiger State’ in the year 1995. But now the scene has changed as the tiger death toll in the Heart of India is alarming. The year 2018 has seen a number of tiger deaths and with this another incident took place on Saturday i.e., January 19, 2019 in Kanha National Park which is truly outrageous.

A Walk Through the Matter

In a rare case of cannibalism, an adult tigress was killed and eaten by a tiger in Kanha National Park. On visiting Mundidadar, where the incident took place, the partial remains of the tigress were found by a patrol team including the skull and paws. The viscera has been sent for further analysis. Other than this, it has been also found that there were few instances where the cubs were eaten by adult tigers but the case of two adult tiger indulging in fighting and one eating the other was something weird.

What the Onlookers Have to Say Regarding the Incident?

Kanha’s field director- Krishnamurthy is of the strong belief that there could be no other reason other than a territorial fight which can be clearly seen in the way the tigress body was found to be a great extent. Also according to him, the case of cannibalism among animals has already taken place earlier but hearing about the incident that took place between tigers was surprising and rare. In addition to this, the forest guards who were on elephants came across the scattered parts of the tigress and informed the senior officials.

The Opinion of the Wildlife Experts!

Right after the incident, the wildlife experts are of the opinion that hunting tiger didn't mean to satiate its hunger but with this, it will lead to an extension of the territorial fight. Also, the experts denied linking the ‘tiger-eating-tiger’ instance with declining prey-base in forests. The cannibalism case has also proved the backdrop of the fact that Kanha National Park has a good population of tigers. Almost all tiger reserves have already exceeded their carrying capacity which means, the forest department has made good conservation efforts for more protection to the tiger corridors and territorial divisions.

Representative Image

Writer- Swati