Panaji, Jan 21 (IANS): Police sniffer dogs on Tuesday helped Goa Forest Department officials track down claws of a tiger, extracted from its poisoned carcass earlier this month, in a temple a short distance from where the tiger was found dead in the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary.

"We have recovered a set of nails extracted from a tiger carcass which was found on January 5. Police sniffer dogs helped us track down the set of claws," a Forest Department official said, requesting anonymity.

The nails were found stashed in a plastic bag in the precincts of the temple in Golvali village in Sattari sub-district in North Goa.

Four persons, all from the Dhangar tribe, have been arrested for allegedly poisoning four tigers to death in the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary earlier this month.

According to Forest Department officials, the tigers were poisoned by the accused after the carnivores killed two heads of domestic livestock, including a cow and a buffalo, from a herd owned by the tribal families.

The claws found on Tuesday were extracted from the carcass of the first tiger, which the Forest Department officials tracked down on January 5. Three other carcasses were found a short distance away.