Lioness found dead in Gir, teeth, nail marks found on carcass

A lioness has been found dead in Gujarat's Gir forest, an official said on Friday. The lioness's carcass was found near a small river on Thursday.

Primary investigation has revealed the lioness was killed in infighting, Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) DT Vasavada said.

"We found canine teeth and nail injury marks on the animal's body, which suggest the that it died in infighting," he added

Since February this year, four cubs, two lions and one lioness have been found dead in the Gir forest. 

Gujarat, the last abode of Asiatic lions, is home to around 600 lions.

Read: Tigress Avni's Killer Inexperienced: NTCA Report

On November 2, Tigress Avni, who was believed to have killed 13 people in the last two years, was gunned down by sharp-shooter Azgher Ali Khan in Maharashtra's Yavatmal district as part of a planned operation.

The killing invited huge flak from various quarters with Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi lashing out at the Maharashtra government for the move.

The BJP leader also lambasted sharp-shooter Azgher Ali, saying he was not authorised to gun down the tigress, and that he carried out the task illegally.

"This is patently illegal. Despite the forest officials being committed to tranquilise, capture and quarantine the tigress, the trigger-happy shooter has killed her on his own under direct orders of Mungantiwar. The tigress was a mother. Now her two cubs will also die," she said in a tweet.

Earlier, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had expressed his dismay over the decision to kill the man-eater tigress and assured that his government will initiate a probe to check if there were any procedural lapses in the entire operation.