BHOPAL: Two newly born cubs which had not even opened the eyes were found dead in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in Umaria district on intervening night of Friday and Saturday.
Ants had begun to eat their bodies. The tigress could not be sighted. Forest department is waiting for the tigress, which is expected return to its cubs. Forest department had no idea about these cubs as tigress had not brought them out from the cave.
“Most probably, it is first timer tigress. It has been observed that first timer tigresses do not know how to care for cubs. So, we presume negligence in taking care led to death of cubs. We are waiting for the tigress to return,” BTR director Vincent Rahim said.
If case tigress went out hunting, it will return to take care of its new born cubs. As they were new born, their skins were soft, which made them an easy prey for ants and other insects. No injury marks were found on bodies of cubs.
