Baripada (Odisha), May 1 (PTI) A rare melanistic tiger, popularly known as black tiger, was found dead in the core area of Similipal National Park, a senior forest official said on Monday.
The tiger’s carcass was spotted on Sunday morning by Similipal south division staff at Badamakkabadi ll beat area in Nawana south range located in the core area of the tiger reserve, the principal chief conservator of forest of Odisha, Sushil Kumar Popli said.
The exact reason for the death of the three-and-half year old male tiger is yet to be known, but it is suspected that the animal had died in a fight with another big cat, he said.
The tiger’s carcass bore scratch marks, which is indicative of the fatal fight, a forest official said.
The melanistic Royal Bengal Tigers are distinctive due to the colour of their fur. Their white fur is caused by a lack of the pigment pheomelanin, which is found in Bengal tigers with organge coloured fur. The reason behind the majestic black stripes in the melanistic tigers is mutation. Melanistic tigers tend to grow faster and are said to be heavier.
Popli said that tigers after reaching three years of age mark out their own territory in the forest for which they often fight with other tigers. The death of the melanistic tiger could be due to such an incident.
“The exact cause of the death can be known after submission of the autopsy report,” he added.
The postmortem of the tiger was conducted on Monday in the presence of a representative of National Tiger Conservation Authority among others. ” The samples will be sent to Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology and also Wildlife Institute of India in Dehradun for analysis,” the PCCF said.
The carcass was burnt after the postmortem as per the law.
Similipal National Park has 18 Royal Bengal Tigers of which eight or nine to be of melanistic variety, the official said. PTI COR AAM KK KK KK
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