Skip to main content

Future Tense For Cute Cheetah Cubs of Kuno

  Kuno National park released two short documentaries with beautiful pictures of cheetah cubs and their mothers.The cute cheetah cubs in the moving pictures  attract eyeballs. Cheetah siblings playing in the lush green grasslands after monsoon in Kuno fascinate all and sundry. For record, in the last 24 months, the same number of cheetahs survived- 12 adult cheetahs of the original 20 airlifted from Africa – Namibia and South Africa- and 12 of the 17 cubs born in Kuno. As the Union ministry of Environment ,Forest  and Climate Change (MoEFC&C) celebrates the “two successful years of the cheetah project in Kuno”, lo and behold, all the cheetahs are still in captivity and none of them are free ranging so far.What  is the future of these cubs . Their future  is  linked with the  future of  the cheetah project.  Safe in Boma, Cubs Yet to Face Jungle Threats The documentaries showcase  playful  cheetah cubs in Kuno. The first cheetah...
Post a Comment

Love Life of 'Papa' Tiger: A Threat to Cubs?


Shouldering the responsibility of the four orphaned cubs after the death of his mate on May 15 in Panna tiger reserve, the male tiger seems to have been courting two tigresses ringing alarm bells for the young ones. Initially the tiger apparently refused the company of tigresses . After the death of their mother – the tigress P213-32 - the male tiger 243 has not harmed the four cubs. They have now turned 10 -months old. So far the tiger has protected the cubs from co- predators.  On  July 29, the World Tiger Day, we bring an amazing story of the tiger family from Panna where the park management is learning new lessons on the behavior of the top predator every day.  

United they Stand, Kill and Survive

On May 15 2021, the tigress 213-32 died of “unknown illness”. The tigress was survived by the four cubs which were about 7 months old and their life was at risk.  But  the tiger P243 .considered as their father  ,always remained around them . The tiger not only protected the cubvs but also  shared  kill with them  when the big cat had hunted a Sambhar deer on  May 21, six days after the death of the mother.

Also read:Lonely Panna Tiger Misses Mate While Rearing Four Cubs

Hunting for a tiger means identifying a prey, chase and kill it without getting hurt. Most of the big cats catch their prey from behind  and   chock  the neck  of the prey with its powerful jaw . But all this requires skills, passed on by their mother. Though the cubs have yet to develop hunting skills in the absence of their mother, they are learning how to kill. “They can now kill a live prey, if it doesn’t run and is of suitable size”, said the park director Uttam Kumar Sharma.  “It is a long journey for cubs to learn the required skills, first for acquiring all the skills of killing a live prey and finally hunting down the prey. And this will take time”, he observed.  The cubs will be considered safe  at the age of 14 months.

P243 and his Love Stories


The satellite data of past one and half months seems to have bothered the park management a little. It shows lots of movement of Tiger P243 outside its known territory.   The data revealed some interesting developments . The movement of  tiger P243 showed  that   10 days after the death of his mate, the tiger had come in close proximity of a tigress P213-63 on May 25. But the relationship did not last longer. No further interaction was found between them. Later Tiger P243 was seen frequently moving in the areas of two tigress  code named P652 and P653. Both tigresses are about two and half years of age but “yet to be seen pairing with any male tiger.”  But the park management always suspected “some relationship”. On July 22, it was observed that P243 was found with another tigress. He was also carrying some injury marks possibly  the result of fighting with some tiger. Next day an elephant search party was dispatched and the party confirmed the suspicion– the tiger P243 was found with tigress P652. Both seem to be enjoying each others company. 

Also read:  Diamond Digging To Destroy Tiger Corridor In Bundelkhand 

Those injury marks were minor but it suggested that P243 and Tigress P652 came together after the former had a fight with other male tiger in the area and won. However, the identity of the other male tiger is yet to be ascertained.  Tiger P243 also has been observed courting with Tigress P653. Due to his courtship with two tigresses, P243 is spending less and less time in cub’s territory and latest satellite data reveals that he was not seen near cubs’ since July 16 . Currently both the tigresses - P652 and P653 -maintain their own territory but with the entry of Tiger P243, there are chances that one of them may move closer to cub’s territory in future. And this may create new equations in the tiger family. The park management is vigil.

What Lies Ahead for the Tiger Family


If the tiger P243 pairs with other tigresses (P652 or P653 or both), how the situation will emerge? Will there be any changes in the behavior of P243 towards the cubs?  If any tigress comes close to cubs’ territory with Tiger P243, will this become a threat to them?  “These are the new challenges and no one knows what lies ahead in the store for the tiger family.  “It will definitely shed more light on the tiger behavior and  it will be a new learning  and valuable experience for the tiger reserve management and to all those who now feel related to the continuing and evolving story”, says Uttam Kumar the park director .
Labels:
Location: Panna National Park, NH 75, Madhya Pradesh 471405, India

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why MP is Denying 105- Yr Old Elephant a Guinness World Record

  She is 105 year old and retired 17 -year ago. Vatsala is the oldest surviving elephant on the earth.  Her name should have entered the Guinness Book of World Records. The female elephant has been in news after reports of deteriorating health conditions in Panna tiger reserve (PTR) , Vatsala’s home.  The director of PTR Uttam Kumar Sharma confirms she is about 105 years old.  thewildlifeindia would want  the state forest department to approach  the Guinness Books to  help Vatsala create a world record . For the last several days she had stopped eating and was unwell, said PTR veterinarian Dr Sanjeev Gupta. “But now she is improving as she has resumed food intake”, he said. From Kerala to PTR, it was a Long Journey The female elephant was shifted to the PTR in 1993 from the Bori reserve forest located in Hoshangabad district. In fact, she was brought to Bori from Kerala's Nilambur forest in 1971.In 2007, when Shahbaz Ahmed was director of the PTR he h...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tiger Corridor : Now Satpuda Melghat National Parks Connectivity At Risk

Much- hyped wildlife friendly NH7 passing   through the famous Kanha -Pench forest corridor and named after the two famous national parks should have 11.81 kms long under passes to let the wildlife have a safe passage. Instead the National Highways Authority of India (NHA) overlooked the rules and constructed only 4.41 km long underpasses compromising their dimensions.  Similarly in NH6, only 2.95 km of mitigation work was done against a schedule 8 kms length. Not everybody knows this truth.  Now NHAI seems to be completely violating the Wildlife (Protection) act 1973 while constructing a road patch on NH46 ( Hoshangabad -Betul). This is a functional tiger corridor connecting Melghat and Satpura tiger reserves. Now the connectivity is also as threatened as the tiger itself.  No Lessons Learnt From NH6 Kanha- Pench Corridor The reduced length of structures in  MH6  and NH7  -connecting East with the West and  North with the South  respect...
2 comments
Read more

Urban Tigers On The Prowl in Bhopal

  Two sub- adult tigers, now more than 24 months’ of age, seem to have started exploring the city of Bhopal. On October 3 night, one of them explored the sprawling campus of a regional engineering college located on a hillock in Bhopal. The tiger sighting led to panic. In the adjoining hostels, students were advised to stay indoors.  For the last over a year or so, these tigers have already been accompanying their mother  as the trio roam the city outskirts.  Termed as urban tigers by the state forest department, there are as many as six resident tigers of Bhopal. In all there are 18 tigers moving about in a forest corridor near Bhopal and one third of them are now  city residents – born and brought up in the jungles near Bhopal. There seems to be no action plan with the government  which apparently awaits some major man-animal conflict in the tiger movement area.  Exploring New Territory Now the forest department has placed a cage to trap the tiger in...
Post a Comment
Read more