When Uthra, a tigress, gave birth to four cubs, a sense of joy and happiness pervaded the Arignar Anna Zoological Park in Vandalur on Sunday. It was to be short-lived as the next morning, all the four tiger cubs were found dead inside the separate enclosure in which they were with their mother.
The cubs had injuries on the thoracic area.
A zoo spokesperson said the tiger cubs might have suffered injuries while their mother tried to move them to a secluded place in the enclosure by holding them in her mouth. The cubs might have died after suffering excessive bleeding.
“In this case, it looks more like an accident,” said an official. “Uthra was a new mother and the wild behaviour could have led to the deaths,” the official adds.
The post-mortem reports stated that the cubs had not taken feed and that the deaths could have been due to the puncture in the thoracic area, sources said.
Forest veterinarians said this could happen when a wild tiger gives birth in captivity.
While those born in captivity are used to the enclosures, for the wild tigers it is difficult.
Also, in the forests, there would be lots of space to move around whereas in the enclosure space is limited and the tigress could have lifted one cub after another after they showed no movement. Even in the wild, there is mortality, they say.
“Separation is also very difficult on the day of birth. After one or two days of feeding, then it’s possible to separate the cubs from the mother. Normally, we leave them with their mother," says a senior wildlife official. "Officials were watching it on CCTV but could not go anywhere near as the tigress would have been ferocious. Next time, the mother will learn to raise the cubs," he added.
Found abandoned
Uthra was brought to the zoo from the Sathyamangalam forests when she was a cub, abandoned by her mother. Vijay, another rescued tiger from the wild, was the father of the four cubs.
After the tigress was rescued from the Satyhyamangalam forests, it took several months to adapt to the captivity hideout, the zoo spokesperson said.
“It is the first ever incident of all the cubs born to a tigress in this zoo dying. As tigresses won’t let anyone go near them, we couldn’t do anything to save the cubs. Adequate measures would be taken in future to save the cubs when a tigress gives birth next time,” he added.
The tiger cubs were kept separately in an enclosure away from the other tiger population in the zoo.
After the incident, the tiger population in the zoo is 26, officials said.