Tigress Avni’s cubs hunt a pony

In what comes as a good news, the two cubs of Avni reportedly hunted down a pony, which was kept as a bait to lure them into a trap, in the Pandkarkawada area of Yavatmal district.

The carcass was found in the Maregaon range of Pandharkwada forest division, which confirms that the two cubs, who are aged between 11 and 12 months, are healthy and are moving around.

Meanwhile, reports from Chandrapur said the tigress — whose three cubs were killed after being run over by Balharshah-Gondia train last week — was captured in camera traps with her sole surviving cub. The cub appears healthy.

T1 Avni, aged between 5 and 6, was killed after a 53-day operation on November 2, her mate T2 occupies another territory in the forest.

Last week, the two cubs were captured in cameras between the Vihirgaon and Anji Dam stretch of the forest division, that was home to four tigers.

The Maharashtra Forest Department has set up traps and has kept baits to lure them so that they can be secured to safety. Camera traps and specialised teams are being used to monitor the movement of the two cubs and their father T2.

The MFD and Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM) are making all efforts to see that the cubs are in good health. "The priority is to let them settle in the jungle. They were born near Borati village and hence they are used to the existing natural habitat there," Prafulla Wagh, Divisional Manager, FDCM, Yavatmal, was quoted as saying.

In a related development, the Maharashtra government’s committee, headed by Dr S H Patil, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, had started probing into the shooting of T1 tigress. The team of the Centre's Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change too had commenced a probe.