5 tigers succumb to mystery virus as MP park bars mating

“We have now inoculated the animals with vaccines which had to be imported from the US,” says Vivek Jain, Park Director. Owing to difficulty in procuring the vaccine, the vaccination could only be done last week, whereas the first death happened at the end of last August.

Paucity of funds has been the bane of the park, which was given the status of a full-fledged national park only recently. It is the second-largest tiger reserve in the state, after Kanha, with 12 tigers under observation, and another two at large within the park. The 12 surviving tigers, including four males, are the offspring of Tara and Petu, who were brought here from Kanha 10 years ago.

Due to the funds crunch, park authorities have stopped the animals from mating. Males and females are being kept separately. This is the mating season for tigers and the three cubs who died had been born accidentally, when Tara’s one-year-old male cub, kept in close proximity, mated with her.

Another tiger, Naresh, who had wandered into the park from the wild, attracted by the scent of the females, is now in captivity, being the most ferocious of the lot. The caretaker feels that Naresh would be the ideal partner for the eight tigresses, but for fear of increase in the number of inmates, Naresh has been confined to a small cell.

It also appears that the insufficient income of the park has come in the way of a proper diet for the tigers. At present, 135 kg of meat is procured from butchers in Jhansi, a two-hour drive from here. The keepers are not too sure of the quality and feel it may have led to the death of the two tigers.

Another reason could be their captivity. “The department has put forward the proposal of letting the tigers out into the wild on a number of occasions, but no interest has been shown,” says Jain.