12 Jun, 2019

Mother Power on Display: A Tigress Saves Her Cub!

History is full of stories where mothers have gone to extreme lengths to save their offspring and young ones. In art, literature and movies too, the role of the mother, and the various struggles she endures throughout her lifetime, has been well documented. The thought of doing anything to ensure the safety of her child, to the extent of even putting her in harm’s way, is something that has been known to us for a long time. Something similar was recently witnessed at the Ranthambore National Park, with tourists capturing the entire video during their safari.

The tigress and the tiger: The battle starts!

At Ranthambore National Park, located in close proximity to Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan, visitors got to see mother power in full display. In a video which captured the entire incident, a tigress is shown protecting her cub from a prowling tiger. As the video starts, one can see the mother constantly pushing her young one into the muddy water. As the tiger approaches the mother and the cub, she keeps him down, with the hope of hiding him from the eyes of the tiger. One can clearly see the apprehension and tension building up all around, even as the mother does not let off her guard for one minute. With her eyes fixed on the tiger at all times, she stands just behind her cub, who seems all happy and excited at this little game in the water.

We are safe, says the tigress to her cub!

With her eyes still fixed on the tiger and her cub, she sits down for a while. Both the tiger and the tigress exchange glances for a while, before the tiger finally gives in and walks away from the scene. On this day, the tigress has clearly come out as the winner in this confrontation. The video was captured by some tourists enjoying a safari on their visit to Ranthambore National Park.

Ranthambore: Land of Royal Bengal Tigers!

Photo Credit: Tigress T60

Ranthambore National Park, located close to the town of Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan, is well known for its impressive population of Royal Bengal Tigers. A census carried out in 2014 revealed that the number of tigers in the national park was 62. In 2013, the number of tigers was 48, while the number of tigers was 25 in 2005. Although the national park is home to other kinds of animals including mammals and reptiles, the majestic Royal Bengal Tiger remains the main attraction. The other reason why it enjoys such an amazing popularity is that the chances of spotting a tiger in Ranthambore is very high.

2018: A good year for tiger conservation

In the year 2018, the Chief Wildlife Warden (CWLW) of Rajasthan said that there had been an increase in the population of tigers. This came as great news for tiger conservationists as well tiger lovers in India. He stated that the state had witnessed a total increase of 28 tigers between the years 2016 to 2018. Out of these, 25 tigers were born in Ranthambore National Park. The remaining three were born in Sariska Tiger Reserve, which also draws tourists in large numbers.

The going gets good for tigers in 2019!

The year 2019 also got off to a good start, as forest officials at the Ranthambore National Park spotted four new tiger cubs delivered by two tigresses named T-84 and T-69. While tigress T-69 was spotted with her cubs at Gilasagar (which lies in close proximity to the Khandar range), Tigress T-84 was spotted with her cubs at Jhalra (which lies close to Ranthambore Fort). The birth of these tiger cubs sent the total population of tigers to 72, out of which 20 were males, 25 females and the remaining 25, cubs.

Thumbnail Image Credit: Tigress T60 with Her Cub