A tigress and all four of her cubs have died within nine days in Kanha Tiger Reserve, with forest officials attributing the deaths to a respiratory infection, wildlife officials said Wednesday. According to officials, the deaths began on April 21 when the first cub was found dead in the Sarhi area of the reserve. A second cub’s decomposed carcass was discovered on April 24, followed by a third cub on April 25.

All three cubs were around a year old. Initially, officials suspected the cubs may have died due to starvation. However, after the third cub’s death, forest officials said the cause was linked to a lung infection.

Following the deaths of the three cubs, the tigress, identified as T-141, and her last surviving cub were located in a distressed condition. Both were tranquilised and shifted to a quarantine facility in the Mukki range for treatment. Officials said the tigress, aged around 10–11 years, was suffering from severe respiratory distress, including difficulty in breathing and inability to feed.

She died during treatment on Wednesday. The cub, which was also showing similar symptoms and was in critical condition, died later the same day.