ERODE: The male tiger found dead in the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve in Erode district on Tuesday was trapped in a snare meant for deer, and died a slow and painful death struggling without food and water for days.
Forest officials are not sure when the tiger was caught in the snare or how many days it struggled before dying.
Initially, forest officials were not certain about the cause of death as the carcass was in a decomposed state. But inquiries revealed that it was a deer poaching attempt that killed the tiger aged around six years.
This is the fourth tiger death in Tamil Nadu and the second in Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) this year.
The forest officials have arrested seven villagers, including a minor, suspected to be habitual offenders, for the death of the tiger. While the six men were produced in a court at Sathyamangalam on Friday and jailed, the 17-year-old boy was sent to an observation home.
Forest officials said the seven-member gang from Sujilkottai had laid the snare made from the brake wire in motorcycles for deer and wild boar near the forests of Komarathur in Kothamangalam forest range of STR 20 days back. The tiger, aged about six years, was trapped in it and was unable to wriggle out.
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