JAIPUR: There is good news for tiger lovers. Tigress T-73 was recently spotted with three
cubs (aged around 4-month-old) at the
Ranthambore National Park (RNP). Trap cameras installed in the non-tourist zone managed to capture the photo of the cubs with their mother. This is the second time that T-73 has given birth. T-73 belongs to famous Machhli’s family. She is the daughter of Machhli’s daughter, Sundari.
Mukesh Saini, divisional forest officer (DFO), RNP said, “This is good news for the tiger population in RNP.
Few days back we had received information that there were new cubs in the reserve but could not authenticate it. Few pugmarks were seen but it was not certain if they were of the new cubs. The cameras clearly showed the tigress along with the three cubs.” The authorities have also taken safety measures in the area where the cubs were sighted. T-73 is the litter of the famous T-17 or Sundari. Before this tigress, T-60 was also spotted with a cub in RNP a month back.
According to the data, the tiger population in the state includes 71 tigers in RNP. It includes both adults and cubs. In
Sariska Tiger Reserve (STR), the population is 16 and four is in Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve (MHTR) which also includes both adults and cubs.
The sighting of new cubs has come as good news for the
wildlife conservationists in
Rajasthan after the death of ST-16 in Sariska on June 8 due to heatstroke. The seven-year-old ST-16 was also the son of tigress T-17 and was relocated from Ranthambore in April to balance the male-female tiger population in Sariska.