Man pets tiger cub in Ranthambore National Park, leaves forest department red-faced

JAIPUR: Visuals of a villager touching a newborn tiger cub of T-2302 sitting inside a concrete pipe in the Daulda–Devpura Dam region of the Phalaudi Range of Ranthambore National Park emerged on Thursday, exposing yet another glaring lapse in tiger monitoring at the reserve.

The reserve has been in the news for lax monitoring of its tiger populace and the forest department's failure in containing man-animal conflicts. A forest ranger and a seven-year-old child were killed in the reserve in the last one month. Instances of tigers charging individuals in the forest area have also been reported.

Tigress T-2302 was recently spotted inside a pipe near Devpura Dam, with her cubs. Sources said the big cat was first seen by a villager with all three cubs inside the pipe. "He entered the pipe and not only managed to photograph the cubs on his mobile phone but also petted them," a source said.