Sariska panther death still a mystery

ALWAR: The mysterious death of a young panther three days ago has again fueled fears that wild animals are being killed due to poaching or illegal mining in the protected Sariska region. Authorities are, however, hushing up the deaths and blamed them on various reasons including territorial fights.
The postmortem on the panther's carcass that was recovered on Sunday from the Malana forest region, some kilometers from the Sariska Tiger reserve, found that the animal was in sound health before its death.There are injuries on its head and the jaw is fractured.
"Brain hemorrhage due to impact on its head cannot be ruled out as the possible reason behind the death. The carcass was recovered almost 48 hours after the panther's death. The animal was about 7 t0 8 years old," said Dr Dalsingh Chohan, a member of the medical board that conducted the postmortem.
The doctor said they are awaiting the viscera report to further ascertain the cause of death. Another doctor in the medical board said the death did not occur in a fight between panthers as was being suspected by the forest authorities immediately after the carcass was recovered.
Three days after the death came to light, Sariska field director RS Shekhawat told TOI that a six-foot high boundary wall has been constructed in several places in Sariska so that villagers don't gain entry into the reserve.
"There are some pillars adjoining the boundary walls. During preliminary investigation, it has come up that the panther was trying jump over the boundary wall, but hit its head on one of the pillars in the process. It caused serious injuries on its head. It seems it might have led to the panther's death," Shekhawat said.
Wildlife experts and activists said there is a blanket ban on the mining in the core areas of Sariska Tiger Reserve and other nearby areas. However, in Tehla range alone, there are about two dozen mines.
"These mines are closed in papers, but illegal miners carry out blasts with explosives. Heavy stones are thrown out of these mines and nearby forest areas during the blasts. There had been several instances in which it was clear that the wild animals were killed after being hit by these stones, but authorities are hushing up these deaths blaming them on other apparent reasons," said Abhishek Choudhary, a wildlife activist working in the Sariska region.
Another wildlife activist Rahul Mishra said there are certain inputs that the dead panther found on Sunday was killed by illegal blasting in the nearby mines.
"This has been conveyed to the forest authorities, but it seems no action is being initiated," Mishra said.
He alleged that last year, the contractor roped in by the forest department to construct a dam in Sariska region had carried out blasts to get stones.
"Some forest guards had even made verbal complaints regarding this with senior authorities, but the matter was never investigated," Mishra added.
In fact, the police had seized illegal explosives including 8 kg of ammonium nitrate and several gelatin rods and arrested a man. During interrogation, the man reportedly revealed that the explosives were to be used in blasting at a mine.
Recent panther deaths
-Panther carcass found poached in Sariska's Tehla range on March 9, 2012. It had been trapped in a wire loop used by poachers
-Two panthers killed in 2011.
-One panther killed in 2009.
No panther count made public since 2011
Questions are being as to why the forest department is not coming up with official figures of the total number of panthers in Sariska since 2011. The figures are not being made public despite the fact that a census has been can carried twice during this period.
Sources said the forest department had found 45 panthers in the census carried out in 2010. The census has been carried out in 2011 and 2012 too, but the latest figures of the total number of panthers were not made public in these consecutive years. Unofficially, the forest officials tag the number of panthers at 55-60.