Satpura Tiger Reserve, located to the south of the Narmada River, is rich in biodiversity and was declared the first Biosphere Reserve of Madhya Pradesh in 1999 | Photo credit: PTI
A tiger from the Satpura Tiger Reserve (STR) in Madhya Pradesh was allegedly poisoned to death, leading to the arrest of five people in the case, officials said on Saturday (Mar 28, 2026).
According to officials, the decomposed body of the tigress was found buried outside the reserve limits in Sangakheda area of West Chhindwara division, after which forest officials swung into action.
Speaking to The Hindu, Satpura Field Director Rakhi Nanda said the tiger was rehabilitated from the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in 2018 and established its territory outside STR boundaries. The tiger was wearing a radio tracking collar.
Ms. Nanda said that the tiger killed the main accused’s oxen after which he along with some other locals mixed urea to kill them.
“The accused is also involved in illegal cultivation of opium and according to interrogation, he was afraid that the forest teams while tracking the collar of the animal might reach his farm and therefore killed the tiger,” she said, adding that the accused also burnt the collar.
The official said the accused have been taken into judicial custody.
However, conservation activist Ajay Dubey alleges that the forest officials were negligent and claims that the collar was immobile since March 3.
“Usually a warning is issued if a collared tiger does not move for eight hours, but in this case no action was taken for weeks. And even if a tiger kills cattle, it is the forest department’s responsibility to create awareness that the owner will be compensated,” he said.
“What’s the point of such expensive technology if it doesn’t help protect animals,” added Mr Dubey.
He also suspected that “some parts of the body were missing from the decomposed carcass.”
However, Ms Nanda said since the tiger had “well established” its territory, regular collaring had stopped.
“We have already written to WWF (India) to remove it and on March 19 we got confirmation of the same and since the collars can now be removed remotely, we assumed it has been dropped,” she said.
“Still, we sent a team on March 25 to check the tiger and collect the collar, after which we found the body on the morning of March 27,” she said, adding that the accused were nabbed within hours.
Published – 29 Mar 2026 0:02 IST
