COIMBATORE: The forest department officials on Monday arrested a man for poisoning the carcass of his cow resulting in the death of a tiger in Emerald in the Nilgiris.
Investigations revealed that Sekar poisoned the carcass of his cow in retaliation after it was killed by some carnivore.
As the cow didn’t return after grazing, Sekar went in search and found the animal attacked to death by some carnivore, a week ago.
In retaliation, he poisoned the carcass with pesticides with an intention to kill the carnivore.
“One of the tigers died consuming the poisoned carcass as it did not have any visible injuries. It was found lying in the stream flowing into Avalanche dam. The other tiger, which was found in close proximity, is believed to have been killed in in-fighting by the other animal before consuming the poisoned carcass,” said an official.
Both the male tigers were aged around eight and three respectively. Samples of viscera have been lifted from both the tigers by veterinarians and sent for an analysis. The owner of the cow has been arrested and remanded into judicial custody.
Further inquiries are underway.