Gorewada’s 3rd ex-situ tiger breeding attempt fails

Nagpur: Another attempt to breed the captive 14-year-old tigress Lee at the Balasaheb Thackeray Gorewada International Zoological Park failed on Saturday when the tigress killed one cub while another suffocated to death immediately after delivery.
Gorewada divisional manager Shatanik Bhagwat confirmed the development. “One cub died while the tigress tried to pull it out, while another was delivered dead,” he said.
This is the third so-called ex-situ (away from natural habitat) conservation experiment involving Lee by the Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM) which has failed miserably.
On February 23, 2018, hand-reared Lee had mated with disabled male Sahebrao in the rescue centre and had delivered four cubs but killed all of them due to poor maternal care.
On June 1, 2022, Lee killed the lone cub immediately after delivery. Now after a gap of six months, the tigress again delivered two cubs and both died. During earlier deliveries, Lee took a long time to deliver and more cubs were expected but till the filing of this report, there was no report of a third cub being delivered.
Lee was brought to the Gorewada Rescue Centre from Maharajbagh in July 2017 for breeding purpose with an aim to equally share cubs with the city zoo. Lee’s partner, a seven-year-old male Rajkumar, was captured in December 2017 from Bhandara district. FDCM officials said the team of veterinarians from Wildlife Research and Training Centre (WRTC), Gorewada, had been watching the behavior of the two while in captivity over the last few months.
Lee and seven-year-old male Rajkumar were paired on September 8, 2021, by releasing both in the 25 hectares Indian Safari enclosure. Earlier, both used to be released separately fearing that the male would harm the tigress.
The whole idea of the experiment to release both the tigers was to allow mating and breeding in the open forest in the tiger safari. Though this was one issue, Recognition of Zoo Rules, 2013, states that every zoo shall endeavour to acquire mates for single and unpaired animals on a priority basis.
However, the attempt to breed the tigress third time, when two had already failed miserably, has raised a question mark by wildlife buffs and conservationists who wanted to know whether there is a need for such breeding, especially when the Gorewada Rescue Centre is flooded with tigers that are being captured from the wild, and there is no space to accommodate them. There are 18 tigers and 22 leopards in captivity in Gorewada.
According to FDCM sources, on Saturday, the first cub was delivered around 7.30am when the entire Gorewada administration and field staff was busy welcoming former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar who visited the Indian Safari. The second cub was delivered around 2.30pm.
Sources said the cubs were delivered in the crawl area of the Gorewada safari enclosure. The first cub, a female, was killed by Lee when she attempted to pull it out. The canines must have pierced the cubs killing it instantly. The second cub, a male, seems to have been suffocated to death due to delayed delivery.
Lee was one of the three abandoned female cubs brought to the Maharajbagh Zoo from Junona (Chandrapur) in January 2009 after their mother was poached. “Being orphaned when one-month-old, Lee doesn’t have the experience to groom cubs,” say experts.