Special enclosure at Pench for orphaned tiger cubs

Centre allocates Rs 1.05 crore  

 
By Aparna Pallavi
Published: Tuesday 27 September 2011

In an effort to rehabilitate three orphaned tiger cubs, the Centre has decided to erect a four hectare open enclosure at the Pench Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra to house and train them.

The three cubs, two females and one male, were found in Dhaba forest in Chandrapur in 2009, after they were separated from their mother. They were then brought to the Bor wildlife sanctuary near Wardha.

The cubs were fourteen months old at that time. Now they are three years old, but lack survival skills in the wild, not having received any training in hunting and locating prey from their mother, says S K Khetrapal, chief wildlife warden of the sanctuary.

Initially, the department workers fed them meat, and provided them live prey like deer to help them learn hunting skills. But the 0.5 hectare enclosure at the sanctuary is insufficient for the cubs’ movement. Hence, the department had sought a larger enclosure.

Now the Centre, under Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) has sanctioned Rs 1.05 crore for the enclosure. The work of constructing the enclosure will be undertaken on a priority basis, Khetrapal adds.

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