Bhopal, Apr 27 (PTI) A sub-adult tiger was electrocuted and its carcass was dumped into a well in Seoni district of Madhya Pradesh, taking the number of big cat deaths in the state to 25 since January, a forest department official said on Monday.
A man from whose farm well the carcass was recovered on Sunday has been arrested, and further investigation was underway, he said.
The tiger, aged one-and-a-half to two years, was electrocuted in a revenue area under the South Seoni forest division, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) L Krishnamoorthy told PTI over phone.
Post-mortem examination of the carcass was conduced as per National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) guidelines, he said.
Madhya Pradesh, which had 785 tigers as per the 2022 census — the highest for a state in the country — has recorded 11 tiger deaths, including cubs, since April 2, when a big cat was found dead in Burhanpur district.
The first tiger death this year was reported on January 7 in the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, and since then 24 more big cats, including cubs, have died, officials said.
Madhya Pradesh is home to nine tiger reserves. PTI LAL RSY
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