The National Tiger Conservation Authority is just a week old as the first clear-cut case of poaching since the crisis hit national attention has struck the showpiece Corbett Tiger Reserve. Early on Sunday morning, within 7 km of the high-security reserve, three poachers allegedly killed a male tiger on the banks of the Dhela river in the Terai West forest division.

Shot in the eye by two country-made bullets fired from a .315 bore rifle, the dying male tiger attacked one of the poachers, Inder Singh of Durgapur village, who was later admitted to a hospital in Kashipur. His condition is serious, officials said.

A case has been lodged against Inder Singh and his absconding accomplices. It was not immediately known if the three were acting on their own or were linked to any “poaching syndicate.” According to the vet who conducted the post mortem, the tiger was about 8 years old and 3 meters (nose to tail) long. The bullets were recovered from its head yesterday.

Officially, the Corbett reserve has 137 tigers but it’s estimated that the actual count — the latest census in Corbett is over but results will come only next year — is down to about 50. Earlier this year, three “unnatural” tiger deaths were reported in Corbett but the official investigation yielded no conclusive results.

Conservator of Corbett Tiger Reserve Rajiv Bharti confirmed Sunday’s killing but washed his hands of the incident saying he didn’t want to comment as the “incident occurred outside Corbett’s boundary.”

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