Kota (Rajasthan), Aug 3 (PTI) A four-year-old tigress was found dead under mysterious circumstances on Monday in Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve (MHTR) nearly a fortnight after a male tiger died in the enclosure.

Named MT-2, the wild cat was said to be in sound health and a post-mortem report is still awaited, Dr Tejendra Reyad of MHTR said.

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The carcass is being taken from the forest area for a post-mortem and the exact reason of death can be ascertained only after receiving the report, Dr Reyad said.

The post-mortem is likely to be done on Tuesday morning.

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This is the second death of a tiger in MHTR as a four-year-old male tiger called MT-3 was also found dead in similar condition on July 23.

The two deaths in less than a fortnight has raised concerns among wildlife experts who are now questioning the state forest department's monitoring process of the wild animal in the area.

Tapeshwar Singh Bhati, a wildlife enthusiast and member of MHTR advisory committee, said, "It is unfortunate that the forest department has learnt no lesson from MT-3 which was found dead on July 23. The death of MT-2 in mysterious condition further exposes the negligent and careless approach of the forest department towards safety of wild animals in MHTR."

He called for a high-level inquiry into the matter.

MHTR's Dr Reyad said, "The tigress was last sighted by the monitoring team on Friday last week and it was visibly in sound health and movement with no apparent physical abnormality."

The monitoring team regularly received the signals from the radio caller tag of the tigress with its movement on Saturday and Sunday. Later in the day, the signals showed stability in movement of the animal following which the team tracked the signals on Monday morning and found the big cat dead when they reached the spot, he added.

No abnormal activity of the deceased tigress was earlier observed during the monitoring, Dr Reyad pointed out.

MT-2 was relocated to MHTR from Ranthambore National Park in December 2018. Earlier this year, it was paired with MT-1 of the same enclosure in MHTR and had begotten two cubs (a male and a female) that were first sighted in June, the official said.

He added that the male one has been captured by MHTR while the female cub is still missing and efforts are underway to trace it.

After the death of two tigers, the sole male tiger MT-1 that stays in the enclosure and female MT-4 that is currently outside the reserve area are the only ones left in MHTR apart from the two cubs.

Chief Conservator of Forest, MHTR, Anand Mohan and Deputy Conservator of Forest T Mohanraj could not be reached for comments on the big cat's death.

Meanwhile, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has expressed his grief over the death of the tigress and termed the death of two tigers within a short period very unfortunate and recommended a high-level inquiry into the death of the two wild animals in MHTR.

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