By Arun Pratap Singh
Ramnagar, 21 May: In an unfortunate and tragic incident in the Corbett Tiger Reserve, a male tiger killed two cubs of a tigress in the dense forests of the Kalagarh Range. The forest department team, during a routine patrol, discovered the highly decomposed and mutilated bodies of the two cubs in the Kalagarh Range.
According to the forest officials, a team was on regular patrol in the Lakkarghat Beat, Compartment Number 1, of the Kalagarh Range when they first spotted the body of a tiger cub. The cub’s body was found in a highly decomposed state, with all its organs, teeth, claws, skin, and bones, scattered in the bushes, indicating that the incident had occurred some days ago. As the team advanced further into the area, they recovered the body of a second cub, also in a similar decomposed and mutilated condition, at the other end of the same area.
Following this, the forest personnel present at the scene immediately informed senior officials of the department. Following this, an intensive patrolling and combing operation was launched in the vicinity of the incident site. The entire area was thoroughly searched by the forest teams, but no suspicious human activity or presence of poachers was found anywhere in the surroundings. However, the forest staff claimed to have found fresh pugmarks and other signs of an adult tiger’s presence near the site of the incident. Based on these findings, the forest department has reached a prima facie conclusion that the attack on the cubs was carried out by a male tiger. According to officials, such behaviour is often linked to territorial conflict among tigers, where a male tiger may kill the potential offspring of another male (i.e., the cubs of a tigress).
Wildlife experts have explained that, while this incident is indeed unfortunate and distressing, it is also consistent with the laws of nature. In the wild, it is not uncommon for a male tiger to kill the existing cubs of a tigress in order to assert his dominance over a particular territory. By eliminating the cubs, the male tiger encourages the tigress to be available for mating and thus establishing his own lineage in the territory.
