Prince’s chopped off snout found with missing canines
News

Prince’s chopped off snout found with missing canines

April 16, 2017

Bandipur/ Bengaluru – The controversy surrounding the death of ‘Prince,’ the most photographed tiger in Bandipur, is refusing to die down with new angles for the death emerging on a daily basis.

While the news of the tiger’s death has been hitting headlines since Apr. 2, environmentalists, wildlife enthusiasts and photographers have claimed that Prince was poached and did not die a natural death, a claim that has been denied by Forest Department officials who said that the famed tiger died due to starvation.

Now as if to prove the claims of environmentalists and wildlife activists, the snout of the tiger with the canines missing has been found around 200 metres from the place where 14-year-old Prince’s body was found. Poachers have cut the tiger’s head and chopped off its four canines (highly valued in the international smuggling market) and the lower jaw bones.  Prince was found dead on Apr. 2 at Lokkare forests under Kundkere Range of Bandipur. Forest Department, after analysing its stripe patterns, confirmed on Apr. 5 that it was Prince and it died due to dehydration and starvation.

The photographs released after the death, however, showed that the face of the tiger was missing and the Forest Department said that a wild animal would have eaten the face.

Media reports also said that Prince would have been killed by meat-bomb, normally used to kill wild boars. Forest officials, however, denied the reports and cited post-mortem report that said Prince died naturally as no chemical substance was recovered from the body parts.

Under pressure to investigate Prince’s death, the Forest officials conducted a search on Apr. 14 in and around Lokkare Range and the place where Prince’s body was found. 200 metres from where the body was found, a forest staff found the tiger’s snout, parts of its chopped off heads and eyes.

READ ALSO  One killed as In-charge DRFO opens fire at poachers in Bandipur

The body parts were found in a rocky terrain and the samples have been sent to Forensic Sciences Laboratory in Hyderabad that would establish the cause of death. Forest officials are making enquiries in nearby villages bordering the Tiger Reserve to gather information about poachers who might be involved in Prince’s death.

Meanwhile, a protest was held in Bengaluru yesterday at Aranya Bhavan by wildlife enthusiasts demanding justice for Prince.  Activists raised questions over the mysterious death of Prince and said that the explanation given by the Forest Department was not convincing and the photographs released after the tiger’s death told a different story.  

“The protest was arranged because the information that was provided to us was not credible. The death was not natural and the post-mortem report is not authentic,” said a protester. The reports of Prince dying due to hunger and dehydration are definitely false, he added.

4 COMMENTS ON THIS POST To “Prince’s chopped off snout found with missing canines”

  1. U.B. Vasudev says:

    Barbaric! Whoever is the culprit should be meted out with similar punishment mercilessly. How can they do this to these innocent animals who attack only when they are threatened?

  2. U.B. Vasudev says:

    Barbaric! Whoever is the culprit should be meted out with similar punishment mercilessly. How can they do this to these innocent animals who attack only when they are threatened?

  3. Aaron D says:

    Sad state of affairs. Forest officials not doing their job. Poachers are given a free rein.

  4. Abdul Hafeez says:

    It’s a sad state of affairs for precious animals in Bandipur….. It’s a complete lapse on duties by Forest Officials who spend more time in leisure and personal work over their job and responsibilities to project this endangered animal.

ABOUT

Mysuru’s favorite and largest circulated English evening daily has kept the citizens of Mysuru informed and entertained since 1978. Over the past 45 years, Star of Mysore has been the newspaper that Mysureans reach for every evening to know about the happenings in Mysuru city. The newspaper has feature rich articles and dedicated pages targeted at readers across the demographic spectrum of Mysuru city. With a readership of over 2,50,000 Star of Mysore has been the best connection between it’s readers and their leaders; between advertisers and customers; between Mysuru and Mysureans.

CONTACT

Academy News Papers Private Limited, Publishers, Star of Mysore & Mysuru Mithra, 15-C, Industrial ‘A’ Layout, Bannimantap, Mysuru-570015. Phone no. – 0821 249 6520

To advertise on Star of Mysore, email us at

Online Edition: [email protected]
Print Editon: [email protected]
For News/Press Release: [email protected]