Indian Express, Tue Aug 10 2010
Milind Ghatwai

Bhopal : A six-month old orphaned tiger cub, who had lost its mother to a car accident earlier this year, was killed by a tiger who entered its fenced enclosure, according to forest authorities at Bandhavgarh National Park. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) H S Pabla confirmed the death of one cub and said the cub’s two siblings were found to be safe on Sunday evening.

The three cubs had been orphaned when their mother got run over by a vehicle inside the park and died a day later, on May 19. A National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) probe had revealed that the tigress was run over by one of the two vehicles allowed inside the park after visiting hours, on May 18. One vehicle, according to the probe, had forest officials and the other had a local political leader.

The state government had first claimed that a tourist vehicle hit the tigress but later suspended three forest officials in connection with the case.

The park has remained closed to visitors since July 1 and is due to reopen on October 15. The only people who have access to the park right now are forest officials. There have also been rumours about one or more cubs missing from the park.

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Cub found dead in MP's Bandhavgarh tiger reserve

PTI, Tue Aug 10 2010

Bhopal, Aug 10 (PTI) Two months after the death of a tigress, one of its three cubs was found dead two days ago in an enclosure in Madhya Pradesh''s Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, officials said today.

"Mangled remains of around seven months old were found in the enclosure spread over an area of 42 hectares," Reserve Deputy Director K S Alawa told PTI over phone. He said the cub had been killed by a tiger in the enclosure, adding that it was hard to identify its sex given that a few body parts of the striped animal were found.

A day after the cub was found dead in the enclosure, forest officials got the area fully fenced to ensure that such incidents don''t recur as the place has two more cubs that are being reared, sources said.

On May 19, a tigress succumbed to her injuries after being hit by a jeep in Bandhavgarh Reserve. The tigress had three cubs. The remaining two cubs are being raised in the enclosure in the Bandhavgarh Reserve spread over an area of 694 sq km in Umaria district, officials said.

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