Jaipur: The whereabouts of tigress T-79, the mother of three cubs continue to elude the forest department.
A search was initiated following the deaths of two of her three cubs, with the third being found in critical condition. The last recorded movement of the tigress dates back to a month ago.
A forest official said, ‘Around 100 forest staff have been deployed in the area where the cubs were found to track the mother tiger too, along with the help of locals. So far, traces of the mother cannot be found.’
Suggestions point to the possibility of the creature’s demise. “A mother does not stay away from her cubs for so long. We fear that the tigress is dead. It did not die in infighting; otherwise, traces would have been found,” said a source. This is the second incident this year in Ranthambore where the mother of cubs has died. In February, Tigress T-114 and one of her cubs were found dead in the Phalodi range. The six-year-old tigress was the mother of three cubs, and the two other cubs, which were found alive, were sent to the Abheda Biological Park in Kota.
A search was initiated following the deaths of two of her three cubs, with the third being found in critical condition. The last recorded movement of the tigress dates back to a month ago.
A forest official said, ‘Around 100 forest staff have been deployed in the area where the cubs were found to track the mother tiger too, along with the help of locals. So far, traces of the mother cannot be found.’
Suggestions point to the possibility of the creature’s demise. “A mother does not stay away from her cubs for so long. We fear that the tigress is dead. It did not die in infighting; otherwise, traces would have been found,” said a source. This is the second incident this year in Ranthambore where the mother of cubs has died. In February, Tigress T-114 and one of her cubs were found dead in the Phalodi range. The six-year-old tigress was the mother of three cubs, and the two other cubs, which were found alive, were sent to the Abheda Biological Park in Kota.
