Cubs’ biological mother died after she was hit by train in March 2022; foster mother with kids took them under wing, taught them how to survive and hunt
A tiger family at the Sanjay Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh has found happiness after a rare instance of a tigress adopting orphaned cubs was reported. The orphan cubs’ mother was the tigress’ sister and the officials monitored the situation for a year before reporting the happy news.
Forest officials received information on the night of March 16, 2022 about an injured tiger on the railway track passing through the core ranges of the tiger reserve located in Sidhi district in MP.
At the spot, the injured tiger was found to be the mother of four cubs, aged eight to nine months.
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The tigress was likely hit by a train on her back, causing severe injuries to the spine, said Hari Om, deputy director of the reserve. “She succumbed to internal injuries next evening while receiving treatment,” he said
The officials then faced the challenge of ensuring the survival of the four cubs. “The cubs were too young to fetch food or hunt for themselves. The loss of their mother meant they were now vulnerable in the wild,” he said.
The forest department decided to intervene and started feeding the cubs. They also deliberated on a difficult decision — whether to tranquilise and move the cubs to a permanent enclosure until they become adults or leave them in the wild.
“Without their mother’s protection, keeping the cubs in the wild was a challenge due to several threats from other animals and starvation. The cubs lived around a marshy lake surrounded by 6-7 feet of grass, which was comparatively a safer place,” he explained.
However, the same situation made it difficult to tranquillise and shift the cubs into an enclosure, said Om. “We decided to monitor the cubs for a month while providing them with food and supplements. The forest officials also decided to leave the destiny of the cubs in the hands of nature and intervene only during possible threats to life,” he said.
However, a week after their mother’s death, on March 24, 2022, one of the cubs died fighting with an adult tiger. “The officials decided to move the cubs into an enclosure,” he said.
Om added that the cubs were growing healthy and stable, but on April 24, the orphaned cubs were not spotted by the monitoring team for two consecutive days.
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“A team was deployed to search for them in a wider geographic area. However, as the search extended for another day without any sight of the animals, hopes for their survival diminished,” he said.
But to the surprise of the forest officials, they spotted a group of seven tigers. The wild animals were found between the road connecting the forest rest house and human habitations outside the reserve, the official said.
Upon a close look, the officials found a tigress and six cubs divided into two sets. “One set had cubs aged around 9 months, while the other had slightly younger cubs, around 6-7 months. The first group of cubs matched the description of the tigers we were looking for,” Om said.
A search and verification of the database confirmed the identity of the tigress — T28. She was another resident from the range with three cubs of her own and happened to be the sister of the one that died on March 17, 2022.
“The incident is rare as tigers are known to be extremely territorial and being a foster mother for an already burdened wild animal with three cubs is a challenge,” he said.
The tiger family now. Photo: Sanjay Tiger Reserve team
Om said that initially, the officials assumed that it was a one-off incident and decided to continuously monitor the activity. “The cubs always accompanied the tigress with her cubs. Additional observations revealed they shared a bond among each other. The mother tigress also seemed to be sharing equal affection and love among all,” he added.
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The tigress eventually took the orphaned cubs on hunting sprees. She taught them hunting and prepared them to face the wild world. It has been over a year of observation and the officials have witnessed the seven tigers grow together.
“Without the tigress, the other three cubs could’ve died fighting other tigers, wild animals or even starvation. It would be unfair on their part to shift them into an enclosure and deprive them of their natural habitat and life. The outcome gives unique and rare insights about wildlife behaviour,” he said.
There are 41 tigers, including 22 adults and remaining 19 cubs at the reserve.
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Tigress T28 with her biological and adopted children. Photo: Sanjay Tiger Reserve team .png)
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