Male offspring of Avni caught on trap camera

Mumbai: The male cub of Avni, the tigress that was controversially shot down by states forest officials months ago, has been captured on trap cameras in a compartment near Yavatmal forest.

The forest department stated that the cub looked healthy and seems to ha-ve preyed on cattle in the vicinity as a carcass was seen in the area.

Earlier, the forest department had stated that the cub appeared to have climbed off the 10-foot-high fencing around the site.

According to the Maharashtra forest department, a special team comprising 150 field staff has been depl-oyed to conduct the sear-ch operation for the cub of the T1 tigress, which had gone missing from the Yavatmal forest. Officials from the forest department have stated that that cub is likely to be within a radius of 5-7 square kilometres. “We found the carcass of half-eaten cattle arou-nd 400 metres from the enclosure that was me-ant for capturing the cubs. We have called up a team from the Madhya Pradesh that helped in securing the female cub of Avni earlier,” said Sunil Limaye, additional principal chief conservator of forest, state forest department.

The team that is searching for the cub comprises veterinary experts who are taking elephants along with them, and the villagers have been also asked to alert officers on the movement of the cub. Earlier in December, one of the female cubs of Avni was rescued.