A big, dominating tiger known as Surya is believed to have killed an eight-month-old cub of a tigress and devoured it totally on Saturday evening in Umred-Karhandla-Paoni Wildlife Sanctuary (UKPWS) in Nagpur district. Surya additionally attacked a tigress in November, killing her and resulting in the abortion of her 4 foetuses.
“Surya, officially known as T9, is believed to have killed and eaten one of the three cubs of a tigress on Saturday night. We have found only a small part of one of the cub’s limbs and his chin on the spot,” mentioned Range Forest Officer Ramdas Nimbekar.
He added, “The tigress and her two cubs were seen by tourists on Saturday evening. We are looking for them.”
Earlier within the day, hypothesis was rife that Surya had killed all three cubs of the tigress. But Nimbekar mentioned, “Till now, we haven’t found any such evidence.”
Principal Chief Conservator of Forest Nitin Kakodkar mentioned, “This tiger (Surya) is a huge dominant male, who has come to UKPWS from Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) in Chandrapur district, where he was born to the famous tigress Maya. He is moving about in a large area, pushing other males out. But it’s part of tiger ecology and there is hardly anything we can do to restrain him.”
He added, “Tigers are known to kill cubs not fathered by them and then have their own progeny by mating with the mother. Also, cannibalism is common among tigers.”
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Recently, a tigress from the sanctuary had caught everybody’s consideration by giving beginning to 5 cubs within the Gothangaon space. Nimbekar mentioned, “Those cubs pose no threat to Surya since he is their father.”
UKPWS had caught the eye of tiger lovers the world over due to tiger Jai, who had mysteriously disappeared in 2016. Jai was believed to be India’s greatest tiger and was attracting a lot of vacationers, together with a number of celebrities. His disappearance had snowballed right into a political situation with the then Devendra Fadnavis authorities being questioned over the state of tiger conservation within the state.
Tiger couple arrives in Penganga Wildlife Sanctuary
Kakodkar mentioned, “Amid the pall of gloom due to PTRF_84’s death and the UKPWS incident, there is some good news from Penganga Wildlife Sanctuary in Yavatmal district. A tiger couple has come to stay, which is the first record of resident tigers in the sanctuary. Only transient tigers have been seen in the sanctuary over the last few decades. It is likely that this pair will stay on and have its own progeny.”
Kakodkar additionally mentioned that the sanctuary has good high quality forest however smaller prey base. “But it has a lot of Neelgai and wild boar population along with large cattle population from several villages in the vicinity,” he added.
