Tigers are known for being solitary animals, with the sole exception being a mother with her cubs. That’s why a unique scene has caught the attention of scientists around the world. A team from the BBC wildlife series Tiger Island captured a tiger caring for another mother’s cubs in the wild, something never documented before.
“They are supposed to be incredibly territorial,” Dan O’Neill, a feline specialist who appears on Tiger Island, told BBC Wildlife Magazine. “Females do not cross paths unless they absolutely have to, they don’t share cubs, they don’t share parenting duties.”
But the drone footage, taken in Nepal, shows a female tiger named Goma with her two cubs, while also looking after three other cubs—the offspring of another female named Jugini, who is eating elsewhere. “I have never seen this kind of thing, one mother leaving her cubs with another, this is definitely something different,” said Manju Mahatara, a local tiger guide who worked on the show.
Tiger Island only covers 1.5 miles, and is found in a river system. Even so, the two mom tigers are not often seen in the same area. The scientists believe this behavior could be in response to threats posed by male tigers, keeping one mother’s cubs safe while she is away. The team also thinks Goma and Jugini could be related, with Jugini being Goma’s daughter; a fact that could partially explain the lack of animosity between the two.
“I was about to say tigers are solitary big cats, are they? I don’t know anymore,” O’Neill pondered. “You just don’t imagine that there are things to learn still about the most iconic animal on the planet, but there is and it’s here.” After all, it looks like the saying “it takes a village to raise a child” also applies to tigers.
Scroll down to see the first time a tiger has been captured on video carrying for another tiger’s cubs.
For the first time ever, a tiger was captured caring for another mother’s cubs on video.
Sources: “No one’s ever seen tigers do this before.” A film crew flew a drone over an island full of big cats – and captured something extraordinary
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