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Death of Tigress T-60 Raises Concerns over Wildlife Safety at Ranthambore National Park

Wildlife activists demand a high level enquiry into the latest death of Tigress T-60 popularly known as Junior Indu at the famous Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan. According to veterinarians, the tigress died due to the newborn baby getting stuck in its birth canal during delivery. Exact reason for the death will be known only after the post mortem reports comes out, said forest officials.

Etv Bharat
Etv Bharat

By ETV Bharat English Team

Published : Feb 5, 2024, 3:45 PM IST

Ranthambore National Park: Death of Tigress T-60

Sawai Madhopur :The tragic death of Tigress T-60 also known as Junior Indu at Ranthambore National Park in Sawai Madhopur district on Sunday caused a wave of mourning among wildlife lovers. The carcass of tigress was found lying near Gudha forest post in Zone No. 2 of the National Park. On February 2, the tigress was found unwell. After receiving the information, forest department officials reached the spot and conducted an enquiry.

The carcass of tigress was shifted to Raj Bagh Naka forest post, where veterinarians conducted the postmortem on it. After this, the tigress was cremated in the presence of forest department and administrative officials. Tigress T-60 was the offspring of Tigress T-31. Wildlife lovers used to call T-31 as Indu. For this reason the Tigress T-60 was named Junior Indu.

Tigress T-60 was pregnant: Regarding the death of Tigress T-60, Forest Department official CCF P. Kathirvel said that it was pregnant and was in a weak state while giving birth to her cubs, due to which she died during delivery. The CCF said that the exact reasons for the death of Tigress T-60 will be known only after the post mortem report comes.

At the same time, veterinarian Rajeev Garg says that due to the position of tigress T-60 at the time of delivery, the newborn tigress got stuck in the birth canal, due to which tigress T-60 died. The newborn fetus remained stuck in the umbilical cord of the tigress for three to four days. According to park conservator Mohit Gupta, samples have been sent for testing.

Questions on Project Tiger: The latest death of tigress T-60 has also raised questions regarding tiger monitoring in Ranthambore Wildlife Sanctuary. Wildlife lovers are also demanding a high level investigation into this matter. Doubts were raised over lack of vigil over the movement of the tigress after it became pregnant. Questions were being raised on whether the death was caused due to negligence. On Saturday, tigress T-99 of Phalodi range i.e. Aishwarya had miscarried. Even before this, many tigers and tigresses have died due to the negligence of the staff.

In 2023, 8 tigers and cubs have died in Ranthambore Tiger Reserve. Not only this, more than 12 tigers have been reported missing. The figures are from January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023. Officials have been accused of being busy with VVIP visits rather than taking care of the wildlife. Project Tiger started with bad news in the year 2023, when a tiger, tigress and cub died here in the month of January.

Later, tigress Krishna died in February. After that, on May 10, Tigress T-104 died in Udaipur due to overdose while tranquilizing her, in September, 2 cubs of tigress T-79 died and the forest department failed to locate the tigress. On December 11, the cub of Tigress T-69 died. The following is the list of tigers dead at Ranthambore in 2023:

  • Death of T-57 on 10 January 2023.
  • Death of T-114 and its cub on 31 January 2023.
  • Death of T-19 Krishna on 9 February 2023.
  • Overdose during tranquillization of T-104 on 10 May 2023, death in Udaipur.
  • In September 2023, 2 cubs of T-79 died, tigress missing.
  • Death of T-69's cub on 11 December 2023.

Ranthambore hit headlines due to death of tigers in 2022 also. Then on May 13, the carcass of Tigress T-61 was found in Jamado drain in Ranthambore. On May 24, the dead body of the female cub of tigress T-69 was found in Khandar Range, on June 5, the dried carcass of tigress T-34 alias Kumbha was found in Zone No. 6 of Ranthambore.

On June 16, the carcass of tigress T-107's cub was found. The cub died after falling into the pond and its carcass was eaten by crocodiles. The remains of the carcass were recovered after 7 days. Also, two cubs of tigress T-39 Noor went missing, to whom Noor gave birth on 19 April 2022. Before this, in the year 2021, Tiger T-65 died suddenly in Ranthambore. After that, the carcasses of the cubs of tigress T-103 and T-60 were found.

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