Tiger CubsTigers are usually solitary animals with the male and female pairing for a brief period of a few days in the mating season during winters. The tigress gives birth to a litter of usually 3-4 cubs after a gestation period of 93-114 days. The cubs are given birth usually in tall grass or a dense thicket. The cubs are born with their eyes sealed and these open only when they are 6-14 days old. Tigress lactates for 5-6 months and the cubs start eating meat when they are about eight weeks old. The cubs spend 18-20 months of their initial life under the care and supervision of their mother.
During this period, they learn the art of survival in the jungle. They start venturing out with the mother to observe her make a kill, when they are about three months old. The cubs start hunting small prey when they are about a year old. The male cubs start becoming semi-independent by the time they are 15 months old and may leave the mother by the age of 18 months. The female cubs have occasionally been recorded accompanying the mother till the age of two and a half years.These sub-adult tiger cubs were recorded by Jim’s Jungle Retreat Naturalist Pan Singh on a jungle safari to Corbett Tiger Reserve.