One of Avni's cubs rescued, taken to Pench reserve in Madhya Pradesh

Nearly 50 days after tigress T-1 or Avni was shot dead in Yavatmal's Pandharkawada forest in Maharashtra, forest officials rescued one of her cubs on Saturday. The 83-kg healthy female cub has been sent to Pench tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh for rehabilitation. Forest officials said the movements of the other cub, a male, are being tracked.

"From December 19, we were moving on elephants to close in on the cubs. During our patrol today afternoon we spotted the female cub from a distance and the veterinarian darted her successfully," said Sunil Limaye, additional principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife).

A team of over 100 people, including four veterinarians, 30 foresters and 50 labourers, are involved in the operation, forest officials said.

Following the killing of Avni by private shooter Asghar Ali Khan under controversial circumstances, rescuing her two cubs had kept forest officials on their toes. A central probe had revealed violation of norms to deal with wildlife and tigers.

To pull off the operation of rescuing the cubs successfully, the forest department used camera traps to regularly track their movements. Avni had proved to be elusive because she was moving in an spread over 60 sq km. The forest department changed their strategy and restricted the cubs to a smaller area of about 100 hectares. The area was turned into a makeshift enclosure using chain link fencing and another layer of fencing was laid on the ground and it was covered with white cloth.

"We were regularly giving them goats and buffalo calves as bait. We cordoned off a perimeter of 3-4 km with chain link fencing to keep their movements localised. The fencing had created a physical and psychological barrier for them. But there were difficulties as the area is covered with dense lantana. We had to clear it to make way for elephants and vehicles. We hope to capture the male cub soon," added Limaye.

Avni, the elusive tigress, was declared a man-eater by Maharashtra's Chief Wildlife Warden AK Mishra earlier this year for allegedly killing 13 people. The forest department had controversially engaged the services of professional hunters Shafath Ali Khan and Asghar Ali Khan to kill Avni. Eventually, it was Asghar who killed her past midnight on November 2. Asghar had claimed to the forest department that he shot the tigress in self-defence.

Following her death, the focus had shifted to her cubs.