Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The forest team has not been successful so far in rescuing the two orphaned-tiger cubs that are on their own in the jungles of Ratapani sanctuary. The forest authorities are mulling over strategies to catch hold of the two cubs. The forest officials have the plan to catch the both cubs together and shift them to Van Vihar National Park. A combing operation was launched on Monday to catch the two cubs but to no avail.
Ratapani sanctuary forest officer Sunil Bhardwaj said, the efforts are underway to capture the two cubs (aged around four to six months) together as the duo share a strong bond.
The two tiger cubs, whose mother died defending them from a male tiger, are sticking together and relying on each other’s strength to stay strong and survive.
It would be unjust that one cub is caught and another runs away during the combing process, therefore all options are being worked out, said the officer. If not caught, the option to feed the two cubs in the jungle itself is also open so that they can grow in woods under watchful eyes of the forest team, he added.
It is learnt that the two cubs have eaten a portion of a prey killed by a leopard recently. Henceforth, they are not hungry as of now.
Notably, the mother of both cubs had died almost a week ago while protecting them from a male tiger. The tigress staged a tough fight but male tiger dominated the fight and killed the tigress. The tigress was mother of three cubs and one cub was also found dead lying alongside the killed tigress. The other two cubs managed to survive by hiding themselves inside the porous rocks.