A tigress has migrated with its three cubs from Maharashtra’s Tipeshwar Wildlife Sanctuary (TWS) to the relatively safer and thick shrubbery along the adjacent north-west borders of Telangana’s Adilabad district. The wildlife dynamics inside the TWS suggests that the big cat has chosen to cross over into Adilabad district only to protect her cubs from a new tiger that has occupied the territory. The area had earlier been marked by another tiger, the star male, which incidentally had sired the cubs in question. As the southern part of the eco sensitive zone of TWS is just about walking distance from the riverine inter-state border that Adilabad shares with Kelapur taluk of Maharashtra’s Yavatmal district, it was evidently the first choice for the tigress to move its cubs into for their safety.
This is the second time within a span of four months that the tigress, which has been identified by wildlifers as the ‘4’ mark female, and its three cubs have been directly sighted along the border areas in Adilabad district. The first time was in mid-November last year. On both instances, the four returned to the core area of TWS.
The three cubs are from the fourth litter of the about 10 year old 4 mark female. The TWS management, however, asserts that the tigress has given birth to three litters only. The ‘star’ male, which has sired the current litter of the ‘4’ mark female, two females and a male, has not been seen in the TWS since the last six months. Another male, named Zanjeer, seems to have taken its place during the course.
“This has apparently become the cause of the mother’s anxiety for the safety of its cubs as the new male will not allow the young big cats to move within its territory,” said wildlife photographers Saurabh Agrawal and Ajinder Singh from Adilabad who directly sighted the tiger family early morning on February 26 and managed to click some pictures. “Yes, the mother may be disconcerted about the intrusion from a new male, most possibly feeling its cubs could be threatened,” concurred well known wildlife photographer from Hyderabad, Sanjeev Siva. “In all probability, the tiger family would have returned once the tigress felt the threat has subsided,” he added. The Adilabad photographer duo also pointed out that the ‘4’ mark female alone had returned to TWS after her first visit this side of the border. “It was perhaps taking stock of the situation with regard to safety before moving its cubs back to the core area of the TWS,” they observed.
The theory that the tigress moved to Adilabad to protect its cubs gains credence from the fact that TWS has excellent prey base and water and so the tigress would not have crossed the border in search of food. The big cat is presumably finding sufficient prey for its cubs to feed upon during their temporary residence period too.
On its part, the Forest department in Adilabad, led by District Forest Officer P Rajashekhar, had initiated measures quickly enough to monitor the movement of the big cat and the cubs as the place is reportedly witnessing human activity. It had set up a base camp and 20 camera traps in the area close to Gunjala from where direct sightings of the tiger family were reported. “We had conducted awareness drives among residents and appealed to them to take necessary precautions when sighting the tigress and cubs. They were also assured of speedy compensation in case of cattle kills,” pointed out Adilabad Forest Range Officer Gulab Singh.