Tadoba continues to provide abundant tiger sightings and spectacular behaviour. Maya, an 8 year-old tigress, has been the star attraction this week providing spectacular views of her family. She has two young cubs of about 6 months, who are incredibly playful. Their father, Matkashur, has been with the family for the past few days and it's clear he has a close relationship with both Maya and the cubs. It's hard not to anthropomorphise when you see them all together, so I will. They appear to adore each other.
The cubs are simply spectacular to watch. They have boundless energy and are continually play fighting. Poor Maya has the patience of a saint as the cubs frequently turn their attention to her, pouncing on her and biting her back. It was particularly delightful to see Maya join in the play fighting, swatting away her little ones with an enormous paw. One of the cubs seems to be very close to its dad and quite often moves when Matkashur moves around the waterhole, but quickly returns to play with its brother or sister.
The images below were captured using a combined magnification of 700 mm with a bit of cropping. Sorry the resolution is a bit low, so you don't see the detail, but hopefully it shows the dynamics of the family. Really hoping we'll get to see them one more time.
