Poachers Arrested For Killing Tigress, 2 Cubs By Poisoning Them In Maharashtra: Official

Three men have been arrested for allegedly killing a tigress and her two cubs by poisoning them in the buffer zone of the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) in Maharashtra's Chandrapur district, a senior official said on Wednesday.

The carcasses of the tigress and two sub-adult cubs were found near a pond on June 10.

Forest officials suspected poisoning as the cause of the deaths, as body parts of the big cats were found to be intact, sources said.

"The accused trio had killed a wild boar by poisoning it using (extract of) mahua and dumped it into the Kondagaon pond. The tigress and its two cubs ate the wild boar, following which they died within 200 metres from the spot," said Nitin Kakodkar, principal chief conservator of forest (Wildlife), Nagpur.

He said the three tigers were on the prowl in the area for many days but no incidents of any man-animal conflict was reported.

The accused trio allegedly used to brew liquor from mahu flowers near the Kondagaon pond.

They are identified as Suryabhan Thakare, Shravan Madavi and Narendra Dadmal, all residents of Kondegaon village.