The Orphaned Cubs: What Happens When A Mother Tiger Is Taken Away

Last Updated:November 03, 2025, 13:57 IST

A tigress is not just a provider of food; she is the cubs’ entire environment. In the wild, she regulates their temperature with her body heat and transfers immunity through milk.

Once cubs are brought in, they are fed on formula milk, kept under constant temperature control, and later weaned onto minced meat. Even then, survival rates remain low (Image: Canva)

In the forests bordering Bandipur National Park, Karnataka a tigress recently linked to two farmer deaths was tranquilized and relocated. Left behind were her three cubs, later moved to Bannerghatta Biological Park near Bengaluru for care. The incident has reopened questions about how India handles conflict tigers — and what happens to the young left behind when a mother is taken away.

What we know about the Bandipur incident

In late October and early November, two fatal tiger attacks were reported near the Bandipur landscape in Mysuru district. Forest officials confirmed that a tigress suspected of being involved was captured and relocated after tracking efforts across the Moleyur and Hediyala forest ranges.

Her three cubs, estimated to be a few months old, were found nearby and shifted to Bannerghatta Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre after the mother did not return for over 48 hours.

Similar cases in the region, including one at Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve earlier this year where two cubs died of infection and deprivation, have once again drawn attention to the complex ethics and logistics of dealing with such rescues.

Why very young tiger cubs are a special case

A tigress is not just a provider of food; she is the cubs’ entire environment. In the wild, she regulates their temperature with her body heat, transfers immunity through milk, and uses her tongue to stimulate their basic bodily functions. Cubs open their eyes only after about two weeks and start sampling meat nearly two months later.

Without their mother’s constant presence during this time, their survival rate plummets. Human caregivers may try to replicate these processes, but the lack of natural immunity, stress, and exposure to new bacteria make hand-rearing extremely challenging.

What the rules say: NTCA protocols

India’s National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has a Standard Operating Procedure that clearly outlines how to handle abandoned or orphaned tiger cubs. The protocol stresses minimal intervention – cubs should be left undisturbed and monitored for at least 48 hours to allow the mother a chance to return.

Only if she fails to show up or is confirmed dead should the cubs be retrieved. A committee comprising the field director, a veterinarian, a wildlife expert, and a forest official must collectively decide the next step.

Conservation biologist Dr Sanjay Gubbi explains why this process is critical. “There are rules as to when and how should the tiger or any wild animal cubs should be retrieved from forest. A committee consisting of one veterinarian, a local expert, a wildlife expert and a forest official should be formed.

This committee should discuss and decide whether the cubs should be left in the forest for its mother to find them or brought back and nursed by humans. But finding a wildlife expert or a local who is aware of forest life is very challenging. Because of this, right decisions are not happening. Young cubs lack immunity. Human touch itself can give them a variety of infections. But, due to social media or societal pressure, they are easily picked from forest, handled by multiple humans and brought to zoo or biological parks.

Young cubs can’t even excrete by themselves. Mother licks their body at specific intervals and stimulates it. Lot of awareness among public and decision makers is equally important in such cases. Many a times, just leaving the cubs at their own place for the mother to get back and take care of them would do them better than bringing them to human shelters and letting them die.

With regard to capturing adult tigers, there is no forensic lab here to determine the DNA of the captured tiger and the one that actually caused trouble. Many a times wrong identification might have happened because of this and an innocent animal must have been dead."

What happens after rescue: care, risk and imprinting

Once cubs are brought in, they are fed on formula milk, kept under constant temperature control, and later weaned onto minced meat. Even then, survival rates remain low. Neonatal infections, aspiration pneumonia, diarrhoea, and growth delays are common.

Beyond the biological challenges lies a behavioural risk: imprinting. Cubs that associate humans with food lose their fear of people, a major problem if they are ever to return to the wild. Wildlife authorities therefore recommend limited handling, remote feeding, and gradual transition to live-prey hunting in isolated enclosures.

Can hand-reared cubs ever return to the wild?

Rewilding orphaned cubs is rare but not impossible. The success depends on their age, health, and the amount of human contact they receive. Older cubs who have seen their mother hunt or have minimal exposure to humans stand a better chance of adapting to the wild.

India has seen some limited successes where hand-reared tigers have been trained and released into protected areas with strict post-release monitoring. But the odds are heavily stacked against very young cubs taken away too early.

Why conflicts are increasing around Bandipur

Karnataka’s tiger population has steadily increased over the past two decades, especially in the Bandipur–Nagarahole–MM Hills–Wayanad belt. This success, however, coincides with shrinking corridors, human encroachment, and the lure of livestock near forest edges.

The same forest patches that once provided abundant prey are now fragmented by farms, highways, and settlements. When natural prey declines or human activity intensifies, tigers may venture closer to fields and tragedy follows. Every such encounter deepens mistrust between forest-fringe communities and conservation authorities.

The toughest decision in the field: wait or intervene?

For forest staff, the decision to retrieve cubs or wait for their mother is one of the hardest to make. Official protocols demand patience, but ground realities – public anger, media attention, and political pressure, often force hasty interventions. In some cases, villagers gather at the site demanding immediate action, fearing another attack.

Under such social pressure, forest teams sometimes remove cubs prematurely or capture tigers based on circumstantial evidence. As Dr Gubbi notes, the lack of forensic facilities in regions like Bandipur means that DNA matching between the conflict animal and the captured one is often impossible, increasing the risk of wrongful capture.

What this means for the three Bandipur cubs

The three cubs now at Bannerghatta face a long and uncertain road. Their survival will depend on careful feeding, limited human exposure, and a monitored environment that mimics their natural habitat.

Whether they are eventually rewilded or kept in permanent captivity will depend on how well they grow, whether they can hunt independently, and if a suitable release site exists.

A more cautious approach could prevent similar situations. First, stronger adherence to NTCA guidelines — including a 48-hour watch period before intervention. Second, pre-constituted expert panels with trained wildlife biologists and local trackers who understand forest behaviour.

Third, better forensic infrastructure to correctly identify conflict animals. And finally, public awareness — so that compassion doesn’t translate into interference that harms the cubs.

Rescuing tiger cubs feels noble, but not all rescues save lives. Sometimes, the kindest action is restraint, letting nature take its course when the mother is still searching. When intervention becomes unavoidable, it must be scientific, cautious, and humane. Bandipur’s story is not just about one tigress and her cubs; it reflects India’s larger challenge – to protect its wildlife without turning conservation into crisis management.

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