A 60-day-old tiger cub in a frail condition, was recently rescued by Kerala Forest Department officials from near a temple at the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border near Idukki. Efforts are underway to nurse it back to health, as it is not able to even stand on its own right now, forest department officials said on Saturday.
The cub is suspected to have been abandoned. Officials have said that they spotted a tigress lurking around the Mangala Devi shrine in Periyar Tiger Reserve, nearly a week after the cub was rescued on November 21.
“She was definitely in search of her cub,” a senior wildlife officer said. Officials believe the cub was left alone in the wild when the tigress engaged in a combat of tigers in the forest. "I am told by our field officers that the tigress was spotted near the temple on Thursday. Now our effort is to see their reunion," Surendrakumar, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden, told PTI.
He said two wildlife doctors have been deployed to save the cub, which is still in a frail condition. "We are doing our best," Surendrakumar said.
According to the rescuers, the cub could not barely stand when it was found. The officials said the cub would be released into the forest to join its mother as and when its health gets better.
All Standard Operating Procedures of the National Tiger Conservation Authority were followed in rescue and the ongoing treatment of the tiger cub, they said.
The Kerala Forest and Wildlife Department is set to start a hospice care unit for tigers in Wayanad, as cases of animals straying into human settlements have been increasingly reported. Under the project, injured and deceased animals could be treated in the hospice which will be started alongside a forest range.
Read:
Watch video of tiger cubs rescued in Tamil Nadu