“We did not think that the animal died due to poisoning,” P.M. Suresh, forest range officer, told IANS.
“The intestine of the dead tiger was infested with hookworm. The hookworm infestation could turn fatal to big cats. We have sent samples from the intestine for conducting toxicology study,” he said.
“And only after we get the result, we would be able to confirm the cause of the death,” said Arun Zacharia, the veterinary surgeon who conducted the autopsy.
“We are conducting a study to assess the prevalence of the hookworm infestation,” Zacharia said.
Tiger deaths are very rarely reported from the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary. Though human-animal conflicts have been common in recent times.
For The Tiger
Dee
http://bigcatrescue.org
http://www.savethetigerfund.org
http://www.worldwildlife.org/tigers/
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