The Forest Department on Monday arrested a man in connection with the death of a tiger at Emerald in the Nilgiris recently.
The officials said that two tigers, aged three and eight, were found dead in a water body in Emerald on Saturday. Investigations led to the discovery of a cow carcass in the area. The department collected samples from the carcasses of the two tigers and the cow and sent it to Coimbatore for forensic analysis.
On Monday, the officials detained the owner of the cow, Sekar, and questioned him. He had reportedly admitted to have gone in search of his lost cow around 10 days ago, and had discovered that it had been killed by a carnivore. In retaliation, he poisoned the carcass with pesticides, that is believed to have led to the death of at least one of the two tigers.
The officials said that while one tiger did not show any sign of injuries, the other did. Investigations are on to find out how the other tiger died.
Sekar was arrested and remanded in judicial custody.
