Born to be wild, tiger cub gets killer instinct lesson
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Last November, when two forest guards out on a patrol in the Periyar Tiger Reserve spotted Mangala, her hind legs were paralysed, she had sustained injuries, and she couldn’t see properly. And, of course, the two-month old tiger cub didn’t have a name then. Some officials thought the weak cub would not survive, but that didn’t stop them and a team of veterinarians from caring for the small big cat. Three doctors, three forest officials, and a physiotherapist were dedicated to her. They named her Mangala after the Mangala Devi Kannagi Temple near which she was found.
Mangala survived. She is now eight months old, weighs around 30kg, almost par for the course for a young tigress of that age. And forest officials are teaching her lessons to survive in the wild, a method that is called rewilding. For starters, they have fenced off a part of the forest near her enclosure and the release small prey to get her used to the idea of hunting.
“We have limited her human interactions... and she is learning her wild lessons fast. This is the first time in south India we are rewilding a tiger cub,” said KR Anoop, field director of the Periyar Tiger Reserve, which is spread across 777 square kilometres of Kerala’s Idukki and Pathanamthitta districts.
But rewilding is a cumbersome exercise and includes protecting or reintroducing key predators and species.
The most high-profile experiment to rewild tigers was in Madhya Pradesh, where two tiger cubs were found abandoned in the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in 2017. The two cubs, however, did not become used to the idea of killing their prey and were shifted to Bhopal’s zoological park in 2020.
“It (rewilding) is an uphill task,” said Anish Andheria, president, Wildlife Conservation Trust. “Either the tiger re-introduced in the wild can get hammered by another tiger or can starve. Success of re-wilding depends on many factors.” The first is that there should not be any human imprinting when the young tiger is in an enclosure as even a remotely habituated animal can end up in villages, and into trouble, he said. The second is the ability to bring down different types of prey species in undulating terrain without getting injured. The third hurdle is the ability to fight with other tigers in the wild, he said. “It is difficult to teach a tiger how to fight with another tiger in the wild in an enclosure,” Andheria said.
Manu Sathyan, assistant field director of the Periyar reserve forest, said they have started with roosters and rabbits for Mangala. “She has started showing her wild instincts. We will slowly increase the size of the prey,” Sathyan said.
Officials say Mangala could be released in the wild before she turns two. Maybe, when she is 18 months old, said one official. By the time they are 18 months old, most cubs are capable of hunting by themselves. For now, Mangala has to hunt, and become the apex predator she is. According to rewilding procedures, a cub has to make at least 50 kills before being released in the wild.