A weak cub died of cold amid rain after its mother was killed in a territorial fight at Ranthambore Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan’s Sawai Madhopur, officials said citing the post-mortem report of the tigress on Wednesday.
The tigress gave birth to three cubs around two-and-half months back. The other two cubs have been sent to Kota’s Abheda Biological Park for better care.
Sedu Ram Yadav, the reserve’s field director, said the post-mortem of the tigress was conducted on Wednesday and it was found that the death was due to the fight. The carcass was later cremated.
Yadav said the tigress and the three cubs were last seen on January 25. “On January 27, tigress’s roars were heard. The field staff also placed milk and meat near them. One of the three cubs was weak and found dead on Wednesday morning.”
Yadav said the tigress earlier gave birth to two cubs around two years back. “Normally, tigress does not give a second litter that early.”
He added when the tigress was not seen, a search was conducted. Yadav said the tigress was found dead in the Todara forest block, around 1.5km away from the cubs, at 4pm on Tuesday.
There has been a 45% increase in the big cat population at Ranthambore over the last eight years even as there have been concerns about a lack of adequate space for the tigers to mark their territory.
There are around 80 tigers at the reserve compared to 59 tigers in 2014. They live in an area of 1,334 square km, making it the third-most congested habitat in India after Uttarakhand’s Corbett National Park and Assam’s Kaziranga National Park.
Over a dozen adult tigers aged between three to five have no territory. They have been moving in the reserve’s periphery.
The lack of space has been blamed for territorial fights. “The tiger population is rising and they need space. We have been suggesting relocations to other reserves,” said a forest official.