Radio-collared Nilgiri tahr killed by carnivore in Mukurthi National Park
The Hindu
Radio-collared Nilgiri tahr preyed upon by carnivore in Mukurthi National Park, prompting post-mortem and investigation.
A Nilgiri tahr that was radio-collared in the Mukurthi National Park a few months ago was preyed upon by a carnivore. The carcass of the animal was tracked down on Friday, and a post-mortem was conducted.
In a statement, M. Yuvarajkumar, Forest Range Officer (Mukurthi Park Range), said that the “saddleback” Nilgiri tahr, a fully grown male adult animal, had been radio-collared by the Forest Department with the assistance of the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF-India) on March 21 in order for officials to better understand the behaviour of Tamil Nadu’s State animal.
However, on July 17, the movement of the animal that was being regularly tracked had suddenly seized, prompting Forest Department staff to undertake a search for it. On Thursday, after a brief search, the remains of the animal were found, along with the radio-collar.
The tahr is believed to have been killed by a predator inhabiting the national park. The information was quickly relayed to the Deputy Director of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, C. Vidhya, who also has jurisdiction over park. Based on her directions, camera traps were placed around the carcass to possibly identify the carnivore that had hunted the animal.
The Mukurthi National Park is home to a number of carnivore species that could have possibly hunted the animal, including tigers, leopards and Asiatic wild dogs.