BHOPAL: A tigress and her four cubs have died in the last nine days in Madhya Pradesh’s Kanha Tiger Reserve (KTR), ringing alarm bells for the wildlife wing of the state forest department.
The mother tigress(T-14) and her last surviving cub, rescued on April 27, died on Wednesday, hours apart, after three other cubs had already died between April 21 and 26.
KTR management and state’s wildlife establishment is on its toes following the deaths following common symptoms.
As per official sources, the tigress and her last surviving cub were rescued on April 27 and brought to the Mukki Quarantine Centre inside the KTR, where their condition first improved on April 28 (Tuesday), after which the mother-cub duo started feeding. But, despite sustained efforts by the veterinary experts, the duo’s condition started deteriorating on Tuesday night. While the tigress died on Wednesday morning, the cub died in the evening.
While confirming the deaths, MP’s additional principal chief conservator of forest (APCCF-Wildlife) L Krishnamoorthy told the TNIE, “In-depth probe is underway by veterinary and wildlife forensic experts. The carcass of the third cub has already been sent to School of Wildlife Forensics and Health in Jabalpur for detailed probe, while blood and tissue samples of the mother and the cub who died on Wednesday too are being sent for detailed analysis.”
“Primary probe suggests that all five, including the four cubs and their mother were afflicted with acute distress in the respiratory tract (lungs). The possibility of the highly contagious and fatal viral infection Canine Distemper is also being suspected. But we will be in a position to ascertain the actual cause of the five deaths, only after all the investigation reports are with us,” he added.
A senior official at the KTR, meanwhile, denied reports about some of the cubs having died due to starvation. “There are over 120 semi-adult and adult tigers and 40 plus cubs currently at KTR, who are hunting prey. Had there been dearth of prey base or starvation among tigers, how come they didn’t develop similar health problems.”
Back on April 17, a video showed a cub in frail condition, after which the KTR teams searched for it, but it remained untraced. On April 21, the first cub death was reported near the Amahi Nullah, followed by the recovery of the partially decomposed body of another cub in the Itaware Nullah on April 24. Two days later on April 26, another cub was found dead, and a day later on April 27, the tigress and her lone surviving cub were rescued and brought to the Mukki Quarantine Centre.