A rare melanistic royal Bengal tiger, popularly known as black tiger, was found dead inside the Similipal Tiger Reserve, located in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district.

Forest officials suspect that the tiger was killed during a fight among the members of the species. The carcass of the tiger was found by forest officials inside the core area of the tiger reserve on Sunday.

“There were scratch marks on the body of the tiger which suggests infighting among tigers. The tiger was aged about 3 to 3.5 years,” said a forestofficial.

The melanistic royal Bengal tigers are distinctive because of the colour of their fur. Their white fur is caused by a lack of the pigment pheomelanin, which is found in Bengal tigers with organge coloured fur. The reason behind the majestic black stripes in the melanistic tigers is mutation. Melanistic tigers tend to grow faster and are said to be heavier.

Similipal Tiger Reserve has 18 Bengal tigers of which eight or nine to be of melanistic variety, the official said.

Principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife), S.K. Popli, told The Telegraph: “According to the protocol, we have intimated the incident to the National Tiger Conservation Authority. The body has been sent for post-mortem. Only after the post-mortem, the reason for the tiger’s death could be ascertained — whether it’s a case of poaching or the tiger was killed for other reasons. However, the prima facie evidence suggests that the tiger fell victim to the infighting. There were signs of scratches on the body.”

Popli said: “A tiger defines its territory and does not allow other tigers to intrude into its territory. So the natural suspicion is that two male tigers fought with each other over the jurisdiction of their territory, resulting in the tiger being killed. But we have to wait for the autopsy report.”

On being asked how a tiger defines its territory, Popli said: “After becoming one year old, a cub tries to move out of the influence of its mother. By the time it reaches two years, the tiger is self-sufficient in arranging its food. By the time it crosses three, the tiger, being full-grown, tries to identify its own territory. During that time, the infighting generally takes place. The tiger sometimes succumbs to infight and passes away. The tiger’s territory generally spreads around 22 square kilometres but sometimes it stretches to 50 kilometres depending on the might and prowess of the tiger. Here, in this case, we suspect the black-coloured tiger fought with others and died.”