Guwahati, June 18: A male tiger’s carcass was found with bullet wounds on the outskirts of Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR) in upper Assam on Friday.

According to a statement issued by the forest department, the carcass was found at 7.10 AM by forest personnel near Japoripathar, Karuabari area on the periphery of KNPTR.

“On enquiry, it was found that the tiger died due to a bullet wound, suspected to be [from] accidental firing while trying to scare away the tiger from the public area,” the statement mentioned adding more details of the incident are awaited.

Director of KNPTR, P. Sivakumar confirmed that the tiger, aged around 10 years, had died due to accidental firing by forest personnel.

This is the third instance of a tiger carcass being recovered from KNPTR. Earlier this month, the carcass of a four-year-old male tiger was found at Sidha Kathani area of the park.

According to forest officials, the carcass had multiple injury marks and they suspected that the tiger died after sustaining grievous injuries during a fight with another male tiger.

The carcass of a female tiger cub with puncture marks on the neck and broken ribs was found in the park in February this year. Forest officials said that the cub, aged around 4 months, might have been killed by a bigger tiger.

According to a 2017 census, Kaziranga had a population of 111 tigers.