Infighting leads to 4th tiger death in Kaziranga this year

Guwahati: Infighting has led to the death of the fourth Royal Bengal tiger this year in Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR), a Unesco World Heritage Site, park authorities said.

In a statement, KNPTR said the carcass of a male tiger was recovered on Saturday around 8am from the western side of the Mandir Baneshwar APC area of Burapahar Range, Ghorakati. The park has not confirmed the tiger’s age.


“A committee was constituted by the director, KNPTR, for carrying out the post-mortem examination and disposal of the carcass as per the SOP of the National Tiger Conservation Authority. Preliminary findings during the post mortem suggest that infighting led to the death of the tiger,” the statement said.

The latest death follows three tiger deaths reported in Jan. The last of those was reported from the Bagori Range on Jan 18, while two others were reported earlier in the month from Bagori and Eastern Range, Gamiri.

Wildlife activists said tiger deaths due to infighting are not uncommon but called for a data-based analysis of the recent incidents in Kaziranga.

“Tiger is territorial in nature and maintains its own territory. When any new tiger comes to the territory of another tiger, infighting is obvious as part of natural selection, which we call survival of the fittest. I feel that the KNPTR authority may further analyse what group of tigers were often killed in such infighting in the past 4 to 5 years and in which areas,” renowned wildlife biologist Bibhab Kumar Talukdar, Secretary General of Aaranyak, told TOI. He said camera-trapping data maintained by park authorities could provide management insights.

KNPTR had an estimated 148 Royal Bengal tigers last year, with a density of 18.65 per 100 sq km. Tiger expert Dipankar Lahkar said the number was strong for the park’s area but that a detailed study was needed to assess Kaziranga’s carrying capacity and the optimum tiger population.

“Tigers go for their territorial expansion when there is insufficient prey, although territory expansion is their inherent behaviour as well. Prey-predator balance needs to be verified in a timely manner, especially in parks like Kaziranga, where there is the world’s third-highest tiger density,” Lahkar said.

On Jan 4, the carcass of an adult female tiger was found in Bagori Range, with officials attributing the death to infighting. On Jan 14, the carcass of a young male tiger was found in Eastern Range, Gamiri. The tiger was estimated to be 2 to 3 years old and was likely killed by an older male during a territorial fight, according to post-mortem findings.