Two tiger cubs found dead in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, ninth casualty in 3 months

Bhopal: Two tiger cubs, aged between 8 to 10 months, were found dead at two different ranges in Bandhavgarh Tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh's Umaria district on Monday.

While one cub was found dead in Panpatha core range, another was found dead at in Khitoli core range of Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve.

Officials have attributed the death of the two cubs to be dominance leading to clash with another adult male tiger. The fiel d staff seized blood stains, footmark of another tiger, dragging trail from the fighting spot

The lower portion of one of the cubs was completely defaced by another male tiger. However, the body of another cub was intact following a clash with another male tiger, officials said.

Deputy director PK Verma said that the post-mortem and cremation of two cubs was performed as per standard operation procedure (SOP).

"It is ninth casualty since January 2024. None were due to poaching," Verma said. All the tiger deaths (nine here) can be attributed to fundamental and natural recourse to 'survival of the fittest' theory.

According to NTCA (National Tiger Conservation Authority) and WII (Wildlife Institute of India) census 2022, there are around 165+ tigers in Bandhavgarh Tiger reserve

Madhya Pradesh had reclaimed the ‘Tiger State’ status from Karnataka in July last year.