Jaipur
The male cub of tigress MT2 died on Tuesday morning while undergoing treatment at Kota zoo. As per official reports its haemoglobin levels had fallen low causing death. The cub was rescued from close to the body of its mother found dead under suspicious circumstances. With three deaths in six weeks, the newly established Mukundara Tiger Hills Reserve (MHTR) in Bundi district of Rajasthan is turning into a graveyard for tigers. A post-mortem was conducted and a report is awaited.
Zoo officials said the cub underwent a blood test on Monday, its heamoglobin was low at 2.6 g/dl. It was found dead at 5.28 am on Tuesday.
The cub’s mother, tigress MT2, was found dead under suspicious circumstances. Its decayed maggot-infested body was found over 72 hours after death. The tigress had given birth to 2 cubs. The male cub was found near the body of MT2. It was taken to Kota zoo for treatment. The other cub is still missing and the forest dept claims to be searching for it.
Experts claim a cub cannot survive in the wild without its mother. The first death was reported at MHTR when MT3 was found dead on July 23. Barely a fortnight later on July 31, tigress MT2 was found dead. The role of the forest officials has been under suspicion, as they have been found unaware and negligent about happenings in the MHTR.
They were unaware when tiger MT3 trekked from Ranthambore to reach MHTR. They had no idea about MT2 giving birth to cubs.
They exhibited gross negligence in the monitoring of MT2. Its signals had been static for 72 hours before its carcass was discovered. But the dept made no effort to track it. Its carcass had decayed, and maggots had infested it, when found.
MHTR has been in the news since its inception in 2018, as National Tiger Conservation Authority had noted there wasn’t enough prey base there.
