A day after the carcass of a five-year-old tigress was found in the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve, a search was launched on Tuesday to trace four of its cubs that “were possibly spotted by a forest official”.

District Forest Officer (Pilibhit Tiger Reserve) Naveen Khandelwal said the search was initiated after an official suspected that he might have spotted the cubs.

“One of our staff members said he saw some tiger cubs from a distance. But there is a possibility that they were cats. So, as a precautionary measure, we have launched an intensive search for the cubs. Till now, we have not found any traces, but the search will continue for another day or two,” said Khandelwal.

“We found the tigress dead on Monday. A post-mortem examination has been conducted. Till now, the findings reveal no unnatural injuries, ruling out the possibility of poaching. We suspect that the tigress died during a fight with another tiger, or due to some disease,” said Khandelwal. DM Pilibhit, Pulkit Khare, said the post-mortem examination of the tigress was done at Indian Veterinary Research Institute.