A tiger was found dead, while a leopard died while being rescued in Madhya Pradesh's Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, an official said on Saturday.

The carcass of a tiger was found in the buffer area of the Dhamokhar range on Friday and, the leopard died in the core area of the Panpatha range of Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, the official said.

The exact cause of death of the big cat will be ascertained once the post-mortem report arrives, the reserve's field director B S Annigeri said.

The officials had on Thursday night received information that a leopard was trapped in a fence in Panpatha range, he said. At that time, the doctors were away in Nauradehi Sanctuary to escort an elephant translocated there, the official said.

The leopard was healthy, but it died while being released into the forest after the rescue, he said, adding that the animal might have died due to damage to the internal organs.

Following the post-mortem, the carcasses of both animals were disposed of as per the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) guidelines.

With PTI inputs.