A three-and-a-half-year-old sniffer dog in Nagpur’s Pench Tiger Reserve died a night after it led forest officials to a man accused of poisoning two tigers, The Times of India reported.

The handlers suspect the Labrador, named Clue, inhaled or ate the pesticide the poacher sprayed on a cow he used as bait to kill the tigers.

Two tigers – a male and a female – and a cow, were found dead at Pusda, in the Paoni range of the reserve on Friday. Clue tracked the main accused, Anandrao Madavi, on Saturday afternoon. Madavi told the police he sprayed thimet, a poisonous pesticide, on the cow to kill the tigers as they have been attacking his herd. The handlers suspect this is what caused Clue’s death too.

Wildlife veterinarians who conducted the post mortem said Clue died of poisoning as some of the dog’s organs had turned dark. But Pench field director Rishikesh Ranjan told the newspaper that Clue died of a cardiac arrest.