BHOPAL: The third cub of tigress T-1, which was brought to Bandhavgarh National Park from Sanjay Gandhi Reserve, died on Wednesday. Two of its siblings had died on Sunday. All the three cubs were infected with Parvovirus and were shifted to Bandhavgarh for treatment.
After the death of their mother immediately after their birth, the forest officials tried to feed them milk from a bottle. Many other attempts were made to trick the cubs into believing that their mother was alive, including creating a replica of the tigress, but nothing worked. For want of mother’s milk, the three cubs could not develop immunity against Parvovirus.
After the death of the two cubs, frenetic attempts were made to save the third one. Antibiotics were injected into his body but it could not be saved. “We made every possible attempt to save the cub. A team of doctors was put on the job. But it didn’t work out,” an official said.
‘Parvovirus theory unbelievable’
Wildlife activist Ajay Dubey has expressed doubts over the claim of the Park management that the cubs died due to Parvovirus infection and has demanded an enquiry into the deaths. In a letter addressed to the member-secretary of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, Dubey said the Park director had not made any laboratory report saying the cubs were infected with Parvovirus public.