Forest dept builds 10-foot fence to rescue two cubs
MUMBAI: The Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM) is building 10-foot high metal fences to ensure the two cubs of tigress T-1, or Avni, do not leave the habitat they are in, near the Pandarkwada forest.
The forest department has been searching for the 11-monthold cubs, a male and a female, since November 2, when Avni, an alleged maneater, was shot and killed.
According to the department, tiger cubs need their mother’s care for up to 18 months, which means Avni’s cubs are too young to fend for themselves in the wild. The cubs were first spotted on November 15, after the department captured them on camera traps. The FDCM said the cubs’ movement is restricted within a 4-km radius near Loni village in Yavatmal’s Ralegaon taluka. The department has monitored how the cubs eat the bait laid out for them in the area.
“The construction of the fences has been underway for four days, and is being done so the cubs cannot escape this zone, get trapped and rescued by the department,” said PN Bagh, deputy manager, FDCM. “The fence should be ready in the next 8 to 10 days.”
Officials said the department wants to rehabilitate the cubs to ensure they “don’t become maneaters like their mother”.
However, once trapped, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) will decide if they will be kept in captivity or relocated.
AK Misra, principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife), forest department said, “We have made progress by ensuring they find this area safe. We have one chance and if we miss it, it will get difficult to safeguard the area.” Animal welfare groups said it was a delayed move, but a good one.
“We suggested fencing the area when Avni was alive, so she could have taught her cubs to hunt there and monitoring them would have been easier,” said Sarita Subramaniam, from Earth Brigade Foundation, who had petitioned to stop T-1’s killing.
THE FOREST DEPT WANTS TO CAPTURE THE 11-MONTH-OLD CUBS AS THEY ARE TOO YOUNG TO FEND FOR THEMSELVES IN THE WILD