Pilibhit (Uttar Pradesh): Less than a fortnight after a tiger was found dead in the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR), the decomposed carcass of another tiger was found on Wednesday in the reserve.

The Pilibhit Tiger Reserve, according to the last census, had just over 50 tigers

According to reports, on Wednesday evening, the forest department found the decomposed and “almost dried up” carcass of the adult tiger in the Khakra compartment of the Mahof forest range in the PTR.

Field director of PTR, H Rajamohan, said a part of the tiger’s body was eaten up by wild animals. “Nails and almost all the teeth are intact in the carcass. This suggests that it was not killed by poachers. The carcass seems to be over one week old,” said the forest official.

The field staff of the reserve has been directed to conduct combing operation in the entire area to collect the clues about the tiger’s death.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has nominated a representative to be present during the post-mortem for assessing the causes leading to tiger’s death and submit an independent report.

Autopsy of the big cat will be conducted on Thursday in PTR by a panel of doctors from Bareilly’s Indian Veterinary Research Institute. The designated representatives of the NTCA as well as chief wildlife warden of Uttar Pradesh will be present there.

The Pilibhit Tiger Reserve, according to the last census, had just over 50 tigers.

Earlier this month, an adult tiger, had died minutes after it was tranquilized by the forest department team.