Tiger cub dies in R’bore in territorial fight: Officials
JAIPUR: An eight-month-old tiger cub was found dead in Tamba Khan area of Ranthambore Tiger Reserve (RTR) in Rajasthan’s Sawai Madhopur district on Sunday, officials said, suspecting that the cub was killed by an adult tigress in a territorial fight, a jolt to tiger conservation,
On April 1, a five-month-old tiger cub was found dead in Gandhra Deh area of RTR in a mutilated condition. Forest officials suspected that the cub was killed by another tiger, with the postmortem revealing canine marks on its neck.
“The neck of the cub found dead on Sunday was broken and injuries were found on the body. The postmortem of the cub is being conducted,” said additional conservator of forest Sanjiv Sharma.
He said the cub was one of the four given birth by tigress T-102 in August 2020. “As the cubs grow, they start roaming around. This cub might have separated from her mother last night and entered the territory of another tigress. We suspect that adult tigress T-124, also known as Riddhi, who was making movement in the area, killed the cub,” Sharma said.
“We were on a routine patrolling today and spotted two tigers running a little ahead the cub’s body, found with a broken neck and injuries. The body was also dragged,” he said.
An official said on the condition anonymity that the area where the body was found is a juncture of the territories of big cats T-102 and T-124. “The cub entered the area and was killed,” he said.
Tigress T-84 (arrowhead), her two daughters -- Ridhi (T-124) and Sidhi (T-125) -- and T-102 move in zones 3-4-5 of RTR, the official said. “In RTR, the issue is of territory. The reserve has crossed its carrying capacity. Now either there will be fights over territory or migration of tigers. And it will be difficult to track big cats outside the protected area.”
The official said that from November 2020 to January this year, the daughters of tigress Arrowhead – Ridhi and Sidhi -have fought over territory at least five times.
Retired IFS officer Sunanyan Sharma said, “As RTR is overpopulated, tigers either will move out to other forests or get into territorial fights, which could lead to deaths; the big cats could also move towards villages, where they might be poisoned.”
He said the solution to this problem is relocation of big cats after developing habitats.
RTR’S 76 tigers, including 21 cubs and sub-adults, live in an area of 1,334 square km, making it the third most congested habitat for the big cats in India, after Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand and Kaziranga National Park in Assam.
The ‘Status of Tigers in India2018’ report says Rajasthan has witnessed an increase of tiger population by 115% in the last 12 years.
In a major setback to tiger conservation in Rajasthan, four tigers, including two sub-adults, were reported missing from RTR in March. The administration had conducted intensive search for the missing tigers, but without success.