Kolkata, Dec 7 : In a most unfortunate incident, three tiger cubs housed at Bengal Safari Park at Siliguri in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal were killed on Saturday after being bitten by their mother tigress, Rika.

Rika had given birth to the three cubs last week only. The officials of the Safari Park had claimed that the accident happened while the mother tigress was sifting her cubs from one place to another. During this process, the three cubs were bitten by Rika following which they punctured. Two of the three cubs died instantly while the third one died after some time.

'Initial investigation has revealed that the mishap happened because of the mistake of the mother tigress. However, a thorough investigation into the matter will be conducted. It will also be seen whether there was any negligence on the part of the Safari Park authorities or not,' said a senior official of the state forest department.

This is not the first time that such unfortunate deaths of tiger cubs at Bengal Safari Park have taken place. In July last year, mother tigress Kika gave birth to two cubs. However, one of them died on the very next day, while the other survived. However, just a month after in August 2023, the second cub also died reportedly due to acute malnutrition.

The Safari Authorities came under scathing criticism from wildlife enthusiasts who accused the authorities of gross negligence.

The West Bengal Zoo Authority was also accused of giving a face-saving report into the matter. Back then the zoo authorities had also held mother tigress Kika responsible for the death of two cubs.

As per the report, both the cubs since their birth on July 12 last year have been suffering from some genetically-borne ailments which they inherited from their mother Kika, the only albino tigress at Bengal Safari Park.

However, the report mentioned that mother Kika was also negligent in taking care of her cubs and that negligence coupled with genetically-borne ailments led to their deaths.

/IANS