A Sunderban tiger, which had been trapped in a Gosaba village, was brought to the Alipore zoo on Wednesday. Officials said it was old at 15. Two of its canines are missing while another is broken. Unable to hunt in the wild, it was frequenting human habitats. A vet said the tiger’s condition was stable, though it had minor injuries. (Bishwarup Dutta)

Calcutta, Dec. 31: The Bengal tiger that died in captivity yesterday could have succumbed to injuries, mainly one to its left paw that had pus and blood oozing, a preliminary post-mortem report suggests.

Foresters said the injury was an old one, sustained in the forest much before it strayed into Kantamari village in Kultali.

The tiger, aged about 14, died last night after it was tranquillised and brought to a camp from the village where it had injured a 12-year-old girl and a deputy ranger.

“We do not think that the tiger died of an overdose of tranquillisers, but only a viscera test can establish that,” said Atanu Raha, principal chief conservator of forest. That report will be ready in about 10 days.

“The nature of the injury to the left paw suggests it was old. Dark blood and pus were oozing from it. We have collected the tiger’s blood and tissue for tests,” a vet who conducted the post-mortem said.

Forest minister Ananta Roy declined comment, saying he had not seen the contents of the post-mortem report.

Doctors in the post-mortem team said apart from the injury in the left paw, there were other wounds on the tiger’s body. “We found fresh wounds on its legs and other places. There was congestion in its lungs,” a doctor said.

The animal, the doctor added, might have got injured when villagers tried to fend it off and shoo it away with sticks. It could also have been injured when it leapt into the house of Sridhar Betal before falling unconscious or when villagers dragged out the tranquillised tiger with sticks.

It is suspected that the tiger’s head had hit against a cot in the house.

Forest officials admitted that while the tiger was being lifted into the cage, its heavy body had hit against the iron rails. At one point, the cage suddenly tilted and fell to one side with a bang.