NAINITAL: A four-and-a-half-month-old tiger cub died after being rescued from the Corbett Tiger Reserve on Monday. The cub which had been abandoned by its mother was found injured and was rescued by the forest officials from Kota forest range in Ramnagar to provide medical attention. With this death, the number of big cats died in Uttarakhand this year has risen to eight.Director of CTR, Surendra Mehra, told TOI, "The cub was spotted in Bijrani zone of the reserve after which we rescued and were taking to Ranmnagar for further medical care. Unfortunately, the animal died of dehydration as per the medical examiner. The body has been cremated following the guidelines of National Tiger Conservation Authority ."Further examinations revealed no external or internal injuries. "The cub, most probably was abandoned by the mother after he was unable to move. The mother must have left him for other offsprings," added the director.On April 14, 2017, a half-decomposed body of an adult tigress was found in the Dachauri range of Ramnagar forest division on Friday. The body was spotted by a patrolling team of the forest department. On March 31, 2017, a body of a 10-year-old male tiger was found in Supurdali range, Dhikala Zone of Corbett Tiger Reserve.Since the beginning of this year, deaths of seven adult tigers and one cub (including today's fatality) have been reported in separate incidents in the state due to causes ranging from territorial fights to alleged poisoning.The spate of deaths has set alarm bells ringing in the wildlife fraternity especially since the state has a population of just 340 tigers as per the last census conducted in 2014.Earlier, a tiger which killed two people in the Bailpadav forest range of Ramnagar division on March 16, was captured by using excavator died on the same day while transporting to Nainital zoo. Postmortem revealed infighting injuries, septicemia and asphyxiation as causes of death of the big cat.On February 22, 2017 a body of the tiger was found in Chhoi village of Ramnagar in Terai West forest division of Kumaon. A day earlier, on February 21, a big cat was found dead in the Chidiyapur range of Haridwar forest division.On February 16, half-decomposed body of a male tiger was found in the Bailpadav range of Ramnagar in Nainital district. Postmortem reports suggested that the big cat, around 8 yrs old, died after being involved in a fight with another animal. Another tiger was found dead on January 19 and reason was cited as territorial fighting by the forest department.

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