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Tiger cub found dead in Deolapar range of Pench Tiger Reserve

Ravikiran Govekar, chief conservator of forests and field director of the Pench tiger project, said a semi-eaten body of a female tiger cub aged around a year was found in the Deolapur range of the reserve.

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In less than a week after two tigers were found dead of suspected poisoning in a critical tiger habitat near Nagpur, a tiger cub was found dead after a fight with another tiger, in the Deolapar range of the Pench Tiger Reserve on Thursday.

Ravikiran Govekar, chief conservator of forests and field director of the Pench tiger project, said a semi-eaten body of a female tiger cub aged around a year was found in the Deolapur range of the reserve. The carcass of the cub, which was born to a resident tiger (T-15) was discovered by field staff during routine patrolling. The snapped hind leg of the cub was found by a forest guard near a steam and the rest of the body was found around 100 meters away.

"The death of the cub was due to the attack and killing by another tiger in an internecine fight wit clear marks of canines on the neck region, probably by the dominant male. The carcass was found to be dragged, split into three pieces and partially eaten," he noted.

Govekar added that tiger cubs were always vulnerable in high-density areas. "The survival chances for cubs are 50% in the wild. Hence, they are not counted in the total (tiger) census (numbers) and only adult individuals are concerned," he said.

The Pench tiger project had around 44 adult tigers in 2017-18. The figures are likely to be similar in 2018-19, though the details are yet to be released officials. The Deolapar rage has high tiger density due to proximity with Madhya Pradesh's Pench Tiger Reserve.

The tiger mortality in Maharashtra stands at 21 in 2018. In 2017, the number of tiger deaths stood at 21 and the numbers were 15 in 2016, 12 in 2015, seven in 2014 and 10 in 2013.

Last week, two tigers (one male and the other female) were found dead within a 24-hour span in the Umred Paoni Karhandla wildlife sanctuary. The carnivores are suspected to have been poisoned.

According to the tiger census, results for which were released in 2014, India has 2,226 tigers, up from 1,706 in 2010. Maharashtra has around 190 such big cats, more than the figure of 169 in 2010. This increased to 203 in the phase-IV camera trapping exercise in 2014-15. Maharashtra has six tiger reserves, namely Tadoba Andhari, Pench, Bor, Sahyadri, Melghat and Navegaon Nagzira and a healthy number of tigers outside protected areas (PA) as well.

With landscapes like Tadoba and the Bramhapuri territorial division being saturated in terms of tiger presence, forest officials admit there is a need to curate and manage tiger numbers.

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