Bengaluru: The killing of a tiger in Karnataka’s forests last year exposed a critical financial gap in wildlife crime investigation, with field officials struggling to immediately arrange over Rs 2 lakh for mandatory forensic tests, a high-level inquiry report submitted to the govt revealed. In the MM Hills wildlife sanctuary incident of Oct 2025, where a tiger was allegedly poached and cut into pieces after it preyed on livestock, investigators were facing fund shortage even as crucial autopsy and DNA samples awaited laboratory analysis.
According to the inquiry, autopsy samples in poaching cases are accepted by the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory (RFSL) of the police department in Mysuru only after payment is made. “The cost for testing each sample is around Rs 7,000. In this case, 8 samples from the tiger and 7 from the cow were sent, which came out to around Rs 1 lakh. The field officers faced difficulty in meeting this expenditure immediately,” the inquiry committee stated.The report said additional samples, including weapons allegedly used in the crime, slipper samples, clothes worn by the offenders and the tiger’s tooth and claw, were sent to Advanced Institute for Wildlife Conservation (AIWC), Chennai, for DNA analysis. “For these sample tests, almost Rs 1 lakh had to be paid. The field officers expressed difficulty in arranging the amount,” the committee noted.The inquiry, conducted by additional principal chief conservator of forests (APCCF) Smita Bijjur along with other experts, found that despite forest staff acting swiftly to secure evidence and initiate legal action, their efforts were hindered by the absence of an institutional mechanism to release funds for forensic procedures. According to the report accessed by TOI, samples collected during postmortem had to be sent to RFSL, Mysuru, and AIWC, Chennai, causing delays that could have risked stalling investigation at a crucial stage.Taking serious note of the issue, the inquiry committee recommended systemic measures to prevent such hurdles in wildlife crime cases. “It is suggested to devise a system for immediate payment of the amount from the respective tiger foundation in such emergency situations,” the report said.Acknowledging the findings, forest minister Eshwar Khandre said, “This was not brought to my notice. However, after the report, I directed the PCCF and chief wildlife warden to make arrangements to fund such expenses from the department’s resources.”
