NAINITAL: A tigress was found dead in Dhela range of Corbett Tiger Reserve CTR ) on Saturday, taking the total number of big cats in the state which died this year to 13. Forest officials said that the tiger died during a territorial fight and the carcass was buried after the post-mortem. Amit Verma , deputy director of CTR told TOI, "The tigress died of ruptured lungs while fighting for territory. The final post-mortem report is awaited." The tigress is said to be around 10 years old and is estimated to have died four days previously.This is the 13th tiger death in the state this year. In August, a tiger was found dead in Dhela range of the reserve. Earlier on June 18, the carcass of a tigress was found in the Sarpduli range. The post-mortem of the tigress found that it had bled excessively and porcupine quills were found in the animal's paws, neck, lungs and other parts of the body, which may have rendered it incapable of hunting.Till August this year, there have been five big cat deaths in CTR. On March 31, a 10-year-old male tiger was found in Supurdali range of Dhikala Zone of the reserve. On May 22, the half-decomposed carcass of an adult male tiger was found in Kalagarh range. On May 2, a four-and-a-half-month old tiger cub died after being rescued.Elsewhere in the state, on April 14, an adult tigress was found dead in the Dachauri range of Ramnagar forest division. Many other deaths which were recorded were attributed to territorial infighting by the forest department.

Stay updated with all the Dehradun Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.