One of the three cubs of tigress Banbei was found dead in mysterious circumstances in Tala Core zone of Bandhavgarh National Park (BNP) on Sunday while one cub is missing. Forest Rights activists have demanded CBI probe into the inciden that took place in the farmhouse of Deputy Speaker of Madhya Pradesh Assembly Rajendra Singh.
Forest officials told that the mother of the cubs is staying at the spot and is not ready to leave the place. Employees of Tiger Protection Force (TPF) have been deployed there to safeguard the tigress.
Sources and forest rights activists informed that on getting information that tigress Banbei has mauled an animal in Tala Core Zone of the park, the forest staff reached the spot on Sunday. When the forest staff was monitoring the tigress from some distance, it was found that one of the three cubs of the tigress was entangled in the barbed fencing of the farmhouse of Deputy Speaker of Madhya Pradesh Assembly Rajendra Singh. On reaching near it, the forest staff found that the cub has died as it was entangled in the fencing for long, may be over one or two days.
Forest Rights activist Ajay Dubey while talking to The Pioneer alleged that one cub of tigress Banbei has been found dead while one is missing as the tigress is sitting near the carcass of her cub with only one cub. “The tigress is sitting near the carcass of the cub with only one cub, one is dead, but the third is nowhere and we doubt that those, who are involved in the killing of the cub, have taken away the third cub with them,” Dubey said.
Dubey further said that we demand CBI enquiry into the incident as it took place near the farmhouse of an influential leader. Meanwhile, locals informed that the farmhouse and its nearby areas are the movement area of this tigress and her three cubs for long. The tigress that has killed some cattle probably on Friday night is sitting there only with one cub and there is no trace of her third cub. It is this point that raises doubt that the cub’s death is not natural and it was trapped to death by someone, who might have succeeded in killing the other cub and fled away with it.
Dubey expressed surprise that how come tiger deaths occur in the national park that has four level of patrolling in it for protection of tiger. “Bandhavgarh is emerging as a graveyard for tigers. last year, a tigress with radio collar was hunted in this park, sometimes, the tigers are killed here by electricity, sometimes by barb wires and sometimes by trapping, but the authorities remain unmoved, he added.”