BHUBANESWAR: A three-year-old tigress Jayashree gave birth to three cubs at the Nandankanan Zoological Park on Saturday. However, only one survived.
Zoo officials said the birth that followed a gestation period of 101 days marked Jayashree’s first litter. However, the big cat appeared to be lacking adequate maternal instincts, affecting the survival of the cubs, they said.
“Jayashree gave birth to the first cub at around 11.55 am on Saturday but failed to attend to the newborn after which zoo staff intervened and immediately shifted the cub to the neonatal care unit, where it was placed under close veterinary observation. The second cub was delivered at around 3.34 pm but was extremely weak at birth and died when the tigress accidentally rolled over it causing severe injuries,” zoo officials said adding, the third cub was born at around 5 pm but the tigress consumed it soon after.
The surviving cub is under continuous monitoring with veterinarians closely tracking its health and development, they said.