A 10-year-old tigress has given birth to five cubs in Pench Tiger Reserve. (Representational)
A 10-year-old tigress has given birth to five cubs in Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR) of Madhya Pradesh, an official said on Sunday.
With this, tigress ''T-4'', known as Paddev, has so far given birth to 15 cubs in four litters, he said.
"The tigress was spotted with five cubs in the PTR on Sunday morning. These new-born cubs are about two-month-old and one of them looks weak," its field director Vikram Singh Parihar said.
On Saturday, tourists had spotted the tigress with a cub crossing a road in Baghin Nullah area near Turia Gate in the reserve, he said.
Mr Parihar said that the forest department personnel are constantly monitoring the newborn cubs and their mother.
"The 10-year-old tigress has so far has given birth to 15 cubs in the four litters," he said.
Tigress T-4 was born to ''Collarwali'', a highly fertile big cat in PTR, who earned the tag of supermom for giving birth to 29 cubs. Collarwali is now 15 years old.
The PTR was jointly adjudged as the best-managed national park along with the Periyar Reserve of Kerala in the All India Tiger Estimation Report 2018.