Two tigers were poisoned and died within two days of each other in a Wildlife Sanctuary in India late last month. On December 30, a male tiger was found dead in the Umrer Paoni-Karhandla (UPK) Wildlife Sanctuary in Nagpur, Maharashtra, the Mumbai Mirror reported.
The tiger, named T-16, was found in compartment 215 of the Chichgaon area of the Paoni wildlife range. The following day, a tigress known as T-4 was found near the site where T-16 was found. The half-eaten carcass of a boar was nearby.
According to forest officers, the wild boar could have been poisoned by traps on nearby farms. It is suspected that by eating the poisoned boar, the two tigers accidentally caused their own deaths. There were no injuries on the tigers suggesting fights or external injuries.
Tigers are an endangered species, with 70% of them located in India. In 2016 about 3,890 wild tigers were reported to be in the country.