CHANDRAPUR: A one-and-a-half-year-old tigress died after a speeding passenger train fatally hit it while the feline was crossing the tracks on Chanda Fort-Gondia railway line in dense Sindewahi forest in Maharashtra early Sunday. This marks the first wildlife fatality of its kind on this track in 2025.
The tigress, hit by Raxaul Express and flung off the tracks, suffered a severe head injury, resulting in its instant death. Chanda Fort-Gondia railway line cuts through dense forest in Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, and Gondia districts.
The locomotive pilot reported the accident to the next Alewahi railway station, and senior forest officials later visited the site. A post-mortem confirmed the tigress died due to internal haemorrhage caused by the hit. Its remains were incinerated at Sindewahi forest depot.
The sub-adult tigress is suspected to be one of four cubs belonging to a resident tigress in the area. RFO Vishal Salka said that it is unclear whether the tigress was with her mother and siblings or moving independently.
Wildlife activist Dinesh Khate highlighted the alarming frequency of such incidents, claiming that 13 wild animals — including two tigers, Indian gaurs, sambar deer, chital, and sloth bears — were killed in train accidents on Gondia-Ballarshah line in 2024.
