Their mother dead and father courting another tigress, the four cubs in Panna are on self-learning mode
While their Tiger Dad does keep an occasional watch over them, the four 10-month-old tiger cubs, who lost their mother in May, are learning the ropes about surviving in the jungles of the Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh. The next 75 to 90 days will be crucial to the survival of the cubs, say forest officials.
According to Srinivas Murthy, former forest area director, who has played a significant role in the repopulating of tigers at Panna, the next 75 to 90 days will be crucial to the survival of the cubs.
Panna, Madhya Pradesh
On May 15, their mother — ‘P-213-32’ — died at the Panna Tiger Reserve when the four of them were no more than seven or eight months old. Forest officials at the tiger reserve were worried about their survival but heaved a sigh of relief when they witnessed a rare occurrence. Tiger Dad (P-243), father of the four orphaned cubs, stepped in to keep an eye on them.
Since then, the Tiger Dad has moved on and is courting another tigress. And the four cubs are also learning to move on and navigate their world by themselves.
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According to Srinivas Murthy, former forest area director, who has played a significant role in the repopulating of tigers at Panna, the next 75 to 90 days will be crucial to the survival of the cubs.
“It is challenging to ensure the safety of these cubs in the jungle. But the decision to let them grow in the wilderness is good for the cubs themselves,” Murthy told Gaon Connection. “By the time they’ll be fourteen months old, their jaws and teeth will be strong enough to turn them into full-fledged hunters,” he said.
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But, a word of caution too as it was still necessary to monitor them. “While their father may not harm them, the other tigers could be a threat to them,” the former director pointed out.
Gaon Connection has been regularly reporting on these cubs and the challenges in their young lives. It may be recalled that when the cubs were orphaned, the officials of the tiger reserve were debating if they should be taken into the protection of a zoo. But when the father of the cubs, Tiger Dad (P-243), took interest in them and seemed to take over their care, the decision was made to let them grow up in their natural habitat.
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Still in touch with Tiger Dad
“The father does visit the cubs. The satellite collar tracks the location of the tiger and the movement data shows that he does get close to the cubs and has often spent the night with them,” Panna’s area director Uttam Kumar Sharma told Gaon Connection.
But P-243 has been involved in skirmishes with other tigers over a mate. On July 22 he was spotted with injuries on his shoulders.
“If P-243 gets into a relationship with another tigress, it is uncertain how she will react to these cubs. There is no way of knowing what and how the new family equations will bring up,” Sharma said.
For now, it is a wait and watch situation in Panna where the four 10-month-old cubs are learning the ropes of survival in the jungle.
At present there are 64 tigers in the Panna Tiger Reserve. The reserve is spread over three districts encompassing Panna, Chhattarpur, and Damoh in an area measuring 1,598 square kilometers (sq kms). The core area comprises 576 sq kms and the buffer area is 1,022 sq kms.
Read this report in Hindi