Jaipur: An 11-year-old tigress was found dead in the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve (RTR) Sunday morning, with preliminary findings indicating it had died of a severe blood infection.Forest officials found the carcass of the tigress, named T-94, during a routine patrol in the Ghoda Ghati area of the reserve’s Khandar range. The forest department secured the site before later transporting the body for examination.A post-mortem found signs of organ failure affecting the animal’s kidneys, lungs and heart. Officials believe death was brought on by fluid buildup in the body cavity.A senior Forest official who was part of the examination identified the cause of death as septicaemia. “This occurs when bacteria enters the bloodstream, triggering a widespread infection that leads to high fever, respiratory distress and eventually organ failure,” he said.RTR’s forest administration confirmed that initial investigations point to septicaemia as the primary cause of death. Tissue samples have been sent to a veterinary laboratory for further analysis.After the post-mortem examination, the tigress’s remains were cremated as per standard procedure.T-94 held sway over a large territory covering Ondi Khoh, Indala and Vindhyakada regions within the reserve. Tiger expert at RTR, Abhishek Chaudhary, said, “The tigress died a natural death and it is likely she would have delivered a litter soon, as she had recently mated successfully with tiger T-96”.Sources in the Forest department said the pattern of similar deaths must be studied in the context of possible inbreeding. “While interstate relocation has already been undertaken in the Ramgarh Vishdhari and Mukundra Hills tiger reserves, the department should also consider bringing tigresses from other states to Ranthambore,” a source said.“The gender ratio in RTR is skewed and in several territories, the number of males is higher than females, which is not appropriate,” the source added.
