Abandoned tiger cub being made self-reliant by Kerala forest officials to return to forest

A tiger cub abandoned at the age of around two months in the forest areas of Idukki district in Kerala is now being trained by the Kerala forest department to hunt its prey before being released to the forest.

Officials of the Periyar Tiger Reserve are setting up temporary fencing at around 1.5-acre forest land to familiarise the cub with the forest. It would be imparted training in hunting prey by providing live animals and birds rabbits and hens. It was already trained in swimming as part of correcting its limb problem.

PTR deputy director A P Sunil Babu said it could be for the first time in Kerala and even in south India that the forest officials were imparting such training to a tiger cub.

It was in last November the forest officials spotted the tiger cub in the forest close to Mangala Devi Kannagi Temple in Kerala - Tamilnadu border areas of Idukki. As its mother did not come to collect it even after waiting for a couple of days, forest officials shifted the female cub to a shelter.

Babu said that the tiger cub could have been either abandoned by its mother as the cub had some health issues or the mother could have died. These are the two possibilities for abandoning the cub.

A team of forest officials and a veterinary doctor took utmost care of the cub. It had problems with limb and vision. An artificial pond was even set up in the shelter to cure the limb problem through swimming and physiotherapy. The vision problem was also cured. It is being fed with milk and meat. Now the nine-month-old tiger cub is quite healthy. It was named Mangala as it was spotted near the Mangala Devi Kannagi Temple.

However, it needs to be trained for hunting its prey before being released to the forest. Hence a temporary fencing in the forest was being made and it would be kept in it for at least one month and preys would be provided inside the fencing. The hunting skills would be monitored and if it is found self-reliant only the cub would be released in the forest.

Babu said that the cub would be possibly released in the forest by next month. Even then the forest officials would keep a watch to ensure its safety.

Though the tiger population in Kerala was earlier declining, over the last few years the numbers were found to be increasing. As per the latest available data, the tiger population was around 190 in the state.