Chikkamagaluru, July 14 -- An eight-year-old male tiger was found dead under suspicious circumstances in a private coffee estate adjoining the Bhadra Tiger Reserve in Karnataka's Chikkamagaluru district, triggering an investigation by the Forest Department even as officials suspect the big cat may have succumbed to injuries sustained in a territorial fight with another tiger.
The carcass was discovered on Monday evening in a coffee plantation near Hosathota village under the Muthodi Range, a key wildlife corridor on the fringes of the tiger reserve. Forest officials rushed to the spot after receiving information and secured the area for scientific examination.
Preliminary assessment indicates the tiger had been dead for nearly 24 hours be...