Villagers stone tiger to death in Ranthambore Tiger Reserve a day after he 'kills' shepherd

Jaipur: A 12-year-old tiger was allegedly stoned to death by villagers in Uliyana near Rajasthan's Ranthambore Tiger Reserve after they suspected him of having killed a local resident, officials said Monday.

The body of the tiger, identified as T-86, was found in Uliyana on Sunday afternoon, showing signs of assault, they said.

Injury marks on the animal's face suggested he was pelted with stones and attacked with sharp objects, such as axes, an official said, adding that an older wound indicated the big cat might have been injured in a fight with another tiger.

After the death of 51-year-old Bharat Lal Meena in a tiger attack, about two dozen villagers attacked T-86 on Sunday afternoon, leading to his death, he said.

The wild animal's body was found at the same site from where the victim's body was recovered the previous day.

According to Kotwali SHO Rajveer Singh, Meena was grazing goats in Uliyana village next to the tiger reserve on Saturday, when the wild animal attacked him, killing him on the spot.

The tiger sat beside Meena's body until villagers arrived and began shouting, prompting the him to flee into the forest, Singh said.

Agitated over the incident, villagers blocked the Sawai Madhopur-Kundera road.

Previously, T-86 had been injured in a territorial clash with another tiger and was under monitoring by the forest department, according to officials.

"Currently, a postmortem of the tiger is underway," said Anoop K R, Field Director of the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve, which currently has around 70 tigers left.