Panaji, Jan 7 (IANS): A four-year-old Royal Bengal tiger who was found dead in the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary on Sunday, could have died on account of poisoning, the Goa Chief Minister's Office tweeted on Monday.

"Chief Minister @DrPramodPSawant is deeply pained & concerned by the death of a tiger in Mhadei wildlife sanctuary. The preliminary investigation has revealed poisoning as the cause of death. Therefore, CM has ordered a thorough inquiry in the matter," the Goa CMO handle tweeted late on Monday.

On Sunday afternoon, villagers of the Golvali in North Goa's forested Sattari sub district, stumbled upon the rotting carcass of a tiger, which Forest Department officials claimed was nearly a week old.

"The death appears to have happened around a week back from the condition of the carcass," a Forest Department official said on condition of anonymity.

He also said, that around a fortnight back, a full grown cow and a buffalo had been found killed by a large wild animal in a nearby village. "We are examining if the two beasts were killed by the same animal," the official also said.

The Golvali village is located in the lower reaches of the Western Ghats. The Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary is a part of a tiger corridor, which spreads across the forests in Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra. As per a census conducted by the central wildlife authorities, the presence of five tigers was recorded in Goa.

In 2009, an adult male tiger was found dead in the same sub district, from injuries after the beast was trapped in a wire snare laid out by poachers.