Five held for killing a tiger in Andhra Pradesh

Hyderabad, Five persons were on Friday arrested for allegedly killing a tiger in Nagarjunasagar Srisailam Tiger Reserve near Mannanur in Andhra Pradesh's Mahabubnagar district.

Police also recovered its claws from them.

"The wild animal had killed a cow in Mannanur village, after which the carcass of the cow was laced with a poison, allegedly by a shepherd, G Lacha," a senior police officer said.

After consuming the poisoned carcass, the tiger died about two km away from Mannanur on January 16, he said.

Other accused, including Hari Singh and Jyotha Nayak, then stole the tiger's claws and its whiskers, police said.

"The five persons were arrested during the course of investigation in connection with the case and recovered 17 claws and whiskers from them," the officer said.

According to police, the accused were booked under relevant sections of the Wildlife Protection Act and IPC.