Three out of four sub-adult cubs, born a year ago to a tigress at the world-renowned Kanha Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, have died within four days, raising serious questions over the management and administration of the state forest department and the monitoring by the reserve’s field staff.
The latest fatality was a one-year-old female cub, which died on Saturday evening.
Earlier, two male cubs of the same age had died within a span of two days.
All the deceased cubs were around a year old and were born to a tigress in the Amahi area, identified as T-141 by officials.
According to KTR Director Ravindra Mani Tripathi, the female cub was found dead in the Sarhi zone of KTR on Saturday evening, and its carcass was sent to Jabalpur for post-mortem examination.
He said the deaths began on April 21, when a male cub was found dead near the Amahi nala in the Sarhinakan beat.
Another male cub was discovered dead on April 23 in a decomposed condition near the Intawara nala.
Authorities said they are concerned about the well-being of the fourth and only surviving cub of the tigress.
They added that the tigress is being continuously monitored and provided with a supplementary diet to ensure she remains healthy and capable of caring for her last cub.
With these incidents, the number of tiger deaths in KTR has risen to four in April, including one adult tigress that died on April 5 in the Kanhari beat.
Madhya Pradesh, which had 785 tigers as per the 2022 census, the highest in the country, has lost 25 tigers, including cubs, since January 7 this year, when the first death of 2026 was reported at the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve.