Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji
Panaji, May 2: An adult tiger was found dead in the forests of Sacorda in Dharbandora region of Goa on Saturday, with its teeth and nails missing, raising strong suspicions of poaching and renewed calls to declare a tiger reserve in the state.
Forest officials said the carcass was recovered in a partially decomposed condition at Aalot, near the Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary. “The cause of death is not immediately clear, but prima facie the teeth and nails are missing,” an official said, adding that the postmortem report is awaited.
The incident has revived concerns over wildlife protection in the region. Earlier, in 2020, a tigress and her four cubs were found poisoned, while another tiger was killed in a trap in 2009.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), which had probed the 2020 deaths, had warned that failure to declare a tiger reserve in Goa could turn the state into a “death trap for tigers.”
The NTCA has highlighted that Goa’s protected areas, including Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary and Mollem, form part of the biodiverse Western Ghats landscape, which supports one of the largest tiger populations in the world. However, habitat fragmentation due to plantations, agriculture, and infrastructure projects such as road and railway expansion has threatened wildlife corridors.
The authority has recommended declaring a tiger reserve to strengthen conservation efforts, provide financial and technical support, and improve habitat protection while also creating development opportunities for local communities.
Acting on these concerns, the Bombay High Court (Goa bench) in July 2023 directed the state government to notify Mhadei and adjoining areas as a tiger reserve under the Wildlife Protection Act.
However, the Goa government has challenged the directive in the Supreme Court of India, citing the presence of around one lakh residents living in the proposed area for decades and expressing concerns over their relocation.
The latest incident has once again intensified demands from conservationists and activists for urgent measures to safeguard tigers in Goa.