Tigress Sultana spotted with two newborn cubs in Ranthambore
Devotees visiting the Ganesh Dham temple early Friday morning spotted the tigress with her cubs on their route and alerted forest officials
Bharatpur: Tigress Sultana was spotted with her two newly born cubs in Rajasthan’s Ranthambore Tiger Reserve on Friday morning, prompting the temporary closure of the gate connecting Ranthambore Fort to Ganesh Dham for around half an hour, officials said.
According to forest officials, Sultana gave birth near the Mishradarra Gate. “All of her previous litters were also born in a cave located near the same gate, indicating her strong territorial attachment to the area,” an official said.
Devotees visiting the Ganesh Dham temple early Friday morning spotted the tigress with her cubs on their route and alerted forest officials. “About a month after giving birth, the tigress began shifting her cubs deeper into the forest. Today morning, Sultana was seen carrying her two cubs into her core territory in zone number 1,” the official added.
As a safety measure, the approximately 2.5-kilometre route was closed to visitors for around 30 minutes. Once the tigress safely relocated both cubs into the forest interior, the route was reopened.
The forest department is monitoring the nine-year-old tigress and her cubs to ensure their safety.
Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Manas Singh said that with the birth of Sultana’s cubs, the total number of tigers, tigresses and cubs in the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve has now risen to around 73.
Tigress Sultana, also known as T-107, is the daughter of the famous tigress T-39. She was first spotted on camera in November 2020 in the Amareshwar forest area along with two cubs.
In 2022, she again gave birth to two cubs, one of which fell into the Gaumukh Kund near the Mishradarra Gate. Later, in August 2023, Sultana delivered a litter of three cubs.
In April 2025, there were reports suggesting that Sultana had given birth again, but the information could not be officially verified till now.
