JOIN USTigress Avni's offspring dies 8 days after release into wild
The female cub of tigress Avni that was released into the wild over a week ago died due to injuries that she sustained in a territorial fight.
On November 2, 2018, tigress T1, known by her nickname Avni, aged between five and six years, was shot dead near the Borati village in Pandharkawada division of Yavatmal in Vidarbha region.
Avni was protecting the two cubs in the vicinity of the Tipeshwar Tiger Sanctuary when she was shot. It was a matter of prestige for the Maharashtra Forest Department (MFD) to secure her two sub-adult cubs, aged around one year.
On December 22, 2018, the female cub was caught and had been sent to a 5.11-hectare enclosure at Titralmangi in the Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR). The male club escaped in the wild and was never caught.
On March 5, the female cub, now over three-years-old and tagged PTR-84, was released into the wild from the PTR enclosure. The female cub was reared/re-wilded as per the standard operating procedures (SOPs) of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
With the help of scientists from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), the tigress was radio-collared before her release, for further monitoring.
The feline was retrieved from the wild on March 8 after it injuried its right foreleg following an internecine fight, PTR's Chief Conservator of Forest and Field Director Ravikiran Govekar.
The tigress died around 10 pm on Saturday.
Over the last two years, as part of the ''re-wilding'' lessons, the tigress spent most of its time in the enclosure, learning to hunt.