Autopsy hints tigress Avni shot at as she faced away from shooter

Amid outrage among wildlife lovers over the killing of tigress Avni, a senior forest department official has said that violations of guidelines are "evident" in the postmortem report which also found that the feline was shot while it was "facing away" from the shooter.

The postmortem report issued recently stated that the bullet which killed the tigress entered from the rear part of its left forelimb.

"The animal was facing away from the shooter at that time," it said.

The report also raised doubts over the tranquiliser dart, which was seen on the big cat's carcass, suggesting that it was not even released from the tranquilising rifle.

"No haemorrhage was observed in the tigress' muscles at the darting spot. A dart fired from a syringe projector (tranquilising rifle) always leaves a significant and obvious haematoma, which was not observed in this case," it said.

The senior forest department official said the revelations are "serious" and could cost some people "dearly".

"Violation of guidelines to capture or kill a protected species like a tiger is evident," he said, on condition of anonymity. Read Complete Article

Business Standard