Tiger who raised orphan cubs found dead in R’bore
JAIPUR: Tiger T-25, also known as Zalim, died in a suspected territorial fight in the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve (RTR), Sawai Madhopur district. The 15-yearold tiger was known for rearing orphan tiger cubs.
This is the second tiger death in Rajasthan this year. On January 2, a 12-year-old tiger had killed a 15-year old tigress in Sajjangarh Biological Park in Udaipur district. The tiger, also known as Kumar, had barged into the enclosure of tigress Damini and killed her.
Field Director, RTR, Manoj Parashar said the body of tiger T-25 was found in Sanwta village area of RTR on Monday. The post mortem has been conducted and cause of death is suspected to be a territorial fight. The tiger’s head bone was crushed and canine marks are there.
He said it is suspected that he fought with 10-year-old male tiger T-66, who, along with female tigress T-54, is moving in the same area. Parashar said lately T-25’s movement was mostly seen in Khandar area of the reserve.
Chief minister Ashok Gehlot tweeted: “Sad news from the wild life that #Ranthambore’s famous Tiger-t25 is no more. It was a magnanimous #Tiger, who took care of two orphan c ubs, di s pl aying f at herly instincts in raising and protecting them to the surprise of cons e r vati onist s . T25 will be missed.”
Zalim will be fondly remembered for rearing orphan twin cubs of T-5 tigress, which died in 2011. A forest official recalled T-5 survived by two female cubs, which were around threemonths old, there was serious concern over their survival. It was then Zalim came in picture and started protecting them from other tigers and animals. He used to stay close to them and even allowed to eat with him, this is a rare phenomenon.
The cubs were then named after Bina-1 and Bina-2, who were later shifted to Sariska Tiger Reserve and are now known as ST-9 and ST-10.
In 2019, five big cats died in Rajasthan. In January, fiveyear-old tiger T-85 aka Pacman was found dead in Khandar range with severe injury marks on his body, it was suspected that it got involved in a territorial fight. In October, 3-year-old Veeru (T-109) succumbed to injuries after a suspected fight with another 8-year-old tiger T-42 aka Fateh.
Three big cats comprising a lioness and two tigers died at Nahargarh Biological Park. In September, lioness Suzzanne suffering from canine distemper virus (CDV) died at the park, followed by the death of a nine-andhalf-month-old tiger cub and a white tigress fondly known as Sita. Currently, RTR has around 65 tigers comprising 51 adults and 14 cubs.