4 Newborn Tiger Cubs at Ranchi’s Birsa Zoo Die of Suffocation After Mother Tigress Sat on Them

Ranchi: At Bhagwan Birsa Biological Park in Jharkhand’s capital city Ranchi, at least 4 newborn tiger cubs reportedly died of suffocation after the mother tigress sat on them. The incident took place on Tuesday at the zoo in Ranchi.

According to the zoo officials at the Birsa zoo, the tigress named Gauri gave birth to four cubs on May 10. However, it turned over the newborn cubs and under the weight of the mother all four cubs died, reported news agency PTI.

Zoo veterinarian OP Sahu told the news agency, "The mother did not have child-caring experience. Gauri could not understand that she turned over her newborn cubs. The cubs died of suffocation under the weight of the mother on May 11."

Dr MK Gupta of Ranchi Veterinary College, who carried out the postmortem on Monday, told PTI, "It was evident that all four cubs died due to suffocation under mother's weight. We found pressure marks on skin of the cubs." Currently, Ranchi zoo has two tigers and six tigresses. "It was the first delivery of 10-year-old Gauri and ironically tiger cubs are not able to see at least 15 days of their birth," Sahu said, adding that a similar incident had happened at the zoo some years back.

He said that they had taken the opinion to segregate the cubs from the mother. "But, the survival rate of cubs in such cases is very low," he said.

The cubs were fathered by Jawa, an eight-year-old male tiger, Sahu added.