CHENNAI: Even as the State Forest Department is searching for the mother of four cubs that died in Chinna Coonoor forest area, the camera traps set up by the department has identified seven new adult tigers that made the forest their home.

These tigers were not accounted for during the previous tiger census. “Identification of new tigers is a welcome sign for the conservation efforts. This is the healthy case of tiger dispersal,” said Chief Wildlife Warden Srinivas R Reddy.

However, though the department does not know where the tigers came from, it’s speculated that they might have come from Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) or Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) or forest areas like Mukurthi, another official said. The department is also yet to ascertain the gender of these big cats as images captured by camera traps were not clear about it.

Reddy pointed out, “The new tigers will be added during the next census. These tigers might have been cubs during the previous census.”

As per the NTCA guidelines, the department does not count cubs during the census as 50% of the cubs would die before growing into adults.