Dehydration among the reasons for death of 4th tiger cub in Nilgiris Forest Division: Official

NILGIRI (Tamil Nadu): One more tiger cub was found dead in the Sigur forest area in ‘Chinna’ Coonoor in the Nilgiris on Tuesday taking the death toll to four in the last three days.

After the examination, the Forest veterinarian of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve said that the cub was ‘severely dehydrated’.

These four deaths have brought the toll of dead tigers recorded in the district to ten tigers in just over a month.

As per Forest Secretary Supriya Sahu, the cub could not be saved despite the restless effort of the team.

“On 14 November, the Forest department received a message of tiger cub’s movement in the Chinnacoonoor area of Nilgiris, immediately a team along with trackers from Mudhumalai tiger reserve rushed, camped in the region and was monitoring. During the monitoring, it was found that there were 4 cubs in the region. In the same area, farmers have seen a female tiger last month. The team was instructed to monitor the cubs as the mother might be in the locality. On 15 and 16, the continuous monitoring of the cubs was done,” she said, adding that a tiger cub was found dead on the very next day, September 17.

#WATCH | Tamil Nadu: Two tiger cubs were found dead in the Sigur forest area in Chinna Coonoor in the Nilgiris. (19.09) pic.twitter.com/im9sXuCS5X

— ANI (@ANI) September 19, 2023

Following the cub’s death on September 17, four special teams were constituted with members from the Mudhumalai tiger reserve and Gudalur Forest division.

The search was intensified for the other cubs and the mother.

On September 18, the search team found a fresh sambar killed in the perambulation area, camera traps were installed for monitoring, she said.

“On Tuesday, one tiger cub was rescued by the team, while 2 other cubs were found dead,” Sahu said.

She further said that the post-mortem was conducted as per the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) guidelines.

“The forest veterinarian of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve was treating the tiger cub, but it also died now. The veterinarian said that the cub was severely dehydrated and it was one of the reasons for the death. The intestine of the other three cubs is devoid of any food materials,” she said. (ANI)