In search of orphaned tiger cubs, over 150 forest personnel, 8 elephants comb jungles in MP

More than 150 forest personnel and eight elephants are involved in a combing operation through the jungles near Sanjay-Dubri Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh’s Shahdol district—in search of three orphaned tiger cubs.

Published on: Jan 21, 2017, 20:02:08 IST

Bhopal, Hindustan Times | By Neeraj Santoshi

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More than 150 forest personnel and eight elephants are involved in a combing operation through the jungles near Sanjay-Dubri Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh’s Shahdol district—in search of three orphaned tiger cubs.

Cubs with their mother in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve. (Representative Photo)

Their mother tigress T1 died of electrocution, and its carcass was found in the revenue area near Banas river in Sarvahi village near the reserve on Wednesday, marking the first death of a tiger in the state this year.

Confirming the electrocution, chief conservator of forests, Shahdol range, Prashant Jadhav said the tigress’s tail and muscles of its hind leg had burnt partly.

“The tigress also had a deep wound near its eye, which she might have got while struggling during electrocution or post electrocution,” he said.

Forest officials then launched a search for the cubs, which are said to be more than three months old.

Jadhav said the tigress was from Sanjay-Dubari Tiger Reserve, which is spread over 1,674 sq km and comprises Sanjay National Park and Dubri Sanctuary and buffer areas taken from Sidhi and Shahdol districts. Sarvahi village falls outside the area.

“We have only three elephants here. So five elephants were brought from Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve and the search is going for its three cubs. Bandhavgarh’s field director Mridul Pathak, who has good experience in such operations, is leading the search operation,” he said.

Madhya Pradesh, which was once known as the tiger state, has lost the tag to Karnataka after nearly one-third of tiger deaths in the country—30 of 97—were reported from the state in 2016.

A three-year-old leopard was mowed down by a speeding train on the Kanti-Gunghati railway track in Shahdol district on Tuesday.

As per Wildlife Institute of India (WII)’s census in January 2015, the number of tigers in MP had increased from 257 in 2010 to 308 in 2015. However since January 2015, 42 tigers have died in the state.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Santoshi
Neeraj Santoshi is the Chief of Bureau for Hindustan Times in Uttarakhand, where he leads the state reporting team while covering government, politics, environment, wildlife, Uttarakhand High Court, and issues shaping the Himalayan region. With more than two decades in journalism across conflict zones, he has covered politically sensitive regions and environmentally fragile landscapes, and focused on stories that combine public interest with in-depth storytelling. An alumnus of Pune University with a Master’s in Communication Studies, he has reported extensively from Jammu & Kashmir (2003-2010), Madhya Pradesh (2010 to 2018 ) and Uttarakhand (Since 2018), covering subjects ranging from insurgency, elections and governance to wildlife conservation, mining, climate change, agriculture, human rights and social justice. He has covered politics and legislative assemblies of both Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh over more than a decade. Before taking over as Chief of Bureau in Uttarakhand, he served as Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in Madhya Pradesh and earlier reported for both Hindustan Times and The Indian Express in Jammu & Kashmir, where he covered state politics, environment and insurgency-related developments. Over the years, his stories have focused on environmental degradation, wildlife, illegal mining, governance and the changing social fabric of Himalayan states and Central India. He is particularly interested in long-form explanatory journalism, and stories that explore the intersection of ecology, conservation, governance and society. Outside the newsroom, Neeraj enjoys reading widely on neuroscience, consciousness studies, Artificial Intelligence and quantum physics, with a special interest in Kashmiri Tantric Shaivist traditions. He is also passionate about wildlife, mountaineering and the Himalayas, interests that continue to inform his reporting and deepen his understanding of the region he covers.Read More

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