Bhopal, March 29 A tiger fitted with a radio collar has allegedly been poisoned to death near the Satpura Tiger Reserve (STR) in Madhya Pradesh, following which police have arrested five individuals, officials said.
The accused, who laced the tiger's carcass with poison, allegedly took this step because the big cat had killed their livestock. They are also involved in illegal opium cultivation, STR field director Rakhi Nanda told
The carcass was found buried in a pit in the West Chhindwara division area on Friday, according to officials.
"The tiger was brought from the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in Umaria in December 2004. It had established its territory outside the reserve. Five individuals have been arrested for poisoning the animal. They have been remanded in judicial custody," Nanda said.
Wildlife activist Ajay Dubey formally lodged a complaint with the secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the member secretary of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, the principal secretary (forest) of MP, and others on Saturday.
In his complaint, Dubey claimed that no movement was observed on the radio-collar monitor since March 3, but the forest department ignored it.
"Poachers poisoned the tiger, and the carcass was found buried in a pit in the Sanga Kheda village area under the Chhindwara south forest division. This is not just a case of poaching, but a glaring example of administrative and monitoring failure," Dubey charged while seeking immediate intervention from higher authorities.
He also demanded the removal of STR field director Nanda "for a free and fair investigation into this incident".
He claimed that 14 tigers have died in MP since January this year.