The tiger cubs were rescued and brought to Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve on January 22 in a critical state of dehydration and trauma and were reared through a 'soft toy tigress'.
In what has left not only Bandhavgarh Forest Department officials but also wildlife enthusiasts in a state of grief and shock, the last tiger cub from the trio who were being raised with help of 'soft toy mother' died on Wednesday morning. The other two cubs lost their lives early this week due to the virus infection.
“We are all in a state of shock as over a period of time these three cubs became a part of our life and there used to be constant discussion about them throughout the day. The three cubs were diagnosed with the symptoms of Parvoviral infection on April 12 and immediately a team of veterinary doctors began treating them but they all succumbed the latest one being on Wednesday 10.00 am,” informed Mridul Pathak, Field director of Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh.
According to officials, the first cub died on Saturday while the second cub died the following day leaving the department panicked who then began consulting experts to try and save the third cub whose health too was deteriorating.
He shared that already the cubs that are abandoned do not have strong immunity and hence they are always vulnerable to infections. “We did everything possible to save these three and even consulted experts from Kruger National Park, South Africa and other places to enquire if there is any vaccine but there were none,” shared Pathak adding that they have also sent samples to various places including requesting if further study can be done and any vaccine be prepared so that it could help in such infections in the future.
It was after Tigress T1’s death on January 19 due to electrocution at Sanjay Dubri National Park, Madhya Pradesh, a hunt was launched to locate her cubs. These three tiger cubs were rescued and brought to Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve on January 22 in a critical state of dehydration and trauma.
In a bid to improve the survival chances of the three 40-days-old orphaned tiger cubs,the officials devised a unique method to feed the cubs by having a tiger soft toy fitted with a hidden milk bottle and synthetic nipples to feed the baby tigers.
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 "Tiger cubs with soft toy tigress at Bandhavgarh")
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