COIMBATORE: Two tiger cubs were spotted dead at Segur forest range in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) on Wednesday.

Though a post mortem was done on the carcass of the animals on Thursday, the veterinarians could not ascertain the exact reason for their death.

“There are no external injuries on both the cubs suggesting that they did not die out of a possible attack by any other carnivore. They also did not die due to poisoning,” said a forest department official.

The tiger cubs were spotted dead during a routine patrol by the front line team of the forest department on Wednesday.

“Both the cubs were barely two weeks old and their gender could not be known as they are too young. One of the carcasses had decayed completely as it is suspected to have died a few days ago, while the other had died a day ago,” said a forest department staff.

Samples from both the cubs were sent for a laboratory analysis. After post mortem, the carcasses of the animals were burnt as per National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) guidelines.