Ooty: The forest department is investigating the deaths of four wild dogs, a scheduled animal, in a village, which comes under the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve near here.

On receiving information that the bodies of four wild dogs were lying in a village near Bhoothanatham in Mayar village, department officials, including veterinarian Dr Vijayaraghavan rushed to the spot for investigation.

Since the animals, are listed in the scheduled category under the Wildlife Protection Act, a detailed investigation and postmortem will be carried out to ascertain the reason for the death under unknown circumstances, Vijayaraghavan said.