In a tragic incident, a tiger, which was trapped between some rocks in a river in Maharashtra’s Chandrapur district after getting injured, has died, a forest official said.

The striped animal, suspected to have received spinal injuries after jumping 35 feet off the bridge, was on Wednesday found stranded between the rocks in Sirna river near Kunada village, located around 27 km from here, he said.

Efforts were made to rescue the feline, but it failed to enter the cage that was placed close by, he said. The tiger also received injuries to its teeth when it tried to pull the cage, he said.

“The big cat was found dead in the river on Thursday morning,” Chief Conservator of Forest, Chandrapur circle, SV Ramarao said. Ashok Sonkusare, DFO, Chandrapur said, “We tried our best to rescue the tiger, but despite our efforts, we could not save it. We found its body at the site this morning,” he said.

On Wednesday, the tiger killed a wild animal and rested for a while on the bridge before jumping into the river and apparently got injured, an official earlier said.

On getting information, forest officials reached the spot and launched a rescue operation but it was called off on Wednesday night due to poor light.

Some forest personnel were deployed to keep a watch on the tiger’s movements during the night, the official said. “However, the animal showed no signs of movement on Thursday morning,” Ramarao said.

The carcass was later fished out from the water, he said, adding that the exact cause of the death will be known after the autopsy.