Son of Langadi

[Shyamala Kumar]

This is an image of one of Langadi`s unfortunate cubs one of a litter of three.There is one porcupine quill embedded on the left side of his lower jaw and another under his right fore leg . He appears to be emaciated and from what the naturalist told me his mother had not been seen for the last 10 days from the time the image was taken. This cub also had not been seen for a long time . A forest guard took this image from me to search for the cub and remove the quills. Wonder if they have been successful. April 15 2019 Turia Gate, Pench Madhya Pradesh , very late in the evening .Nikon850+200-500 ,f/8 1/125s ISO2500 .

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Any injury which hinders the movement of wildlife is akin to a slow poison. This is tough for the cub. Tigers often get injured while attacking porcupines. If the forest department could have immediately tranquilised and treated the cub then there was some hope. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Mrudul Godbole]

I had read about a similar incident in one of Jim Corbett's book, where the tigress had got injured due to the quills. Got to see that in reality now. As Sabyasachi has mentioned, the injury has made him quite weak and unwell. Its great that you sighted it and I hope the forest guard is able to immediately get the authorities to take action. Thanks for sharing.

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

Record image. The two embedded quills are life threatening, the male cub has already become quite thin. Bad luck - tiger attacks porcupine from rear and invites this; leopard catches the mouth first. Reminds us about Mukteswar's maneater of Corbett fame, the root cause of its turning to be a maneater.
I think you have taken up with field director. Thanks for sharing. SaktiWild

[V S Sankar]

Its disheartening to know that the Tiger is in danger because of the stuck quills.But this is nature and we are just witnessing the happenings......

Regards

V S Sankar

[Prashant Gandhi]

Perfect shot at a perfect time! Proper treatment at the right time is very much important for any kind of organisms apart from humans! I also wish that a forest guard had found this cub!

[Murugan Anantharaman]

Quite remarkable that such a record has been documented, Shyamalaji. What we see is whats visible, there is a good chance there may be other quills already embedded under the skin. Difficult and painful for the tiger to hunt in the wild, since this is a cub there's greater chance of it not being able to make it as its hunting skills would still not have been perfected. Many a tiger has become a man eater due to porcupine quills as mentioned by great writers. Thanks for sharing.