01
Four 10-day-old tiger cubs, two females and two males, are living in the Indian jungle. This is their mother's first litter and the cubs insist on tumbling out of the den, only to be carried delicately back to safety in her massive jaws.
As they grow, their diet changes from their mother's milk to meat. At 14 weeks they can eat over a kilo of meat a day between them - the equivalent of 20 large steaks. It's a good job that this tigress is such a skilled hunter and that spotted and sambar deer are so plentiful. Charger, their imposing father, keeps his distance but helps to protect his vulnerable offspring from rogue male tigers and leopards. Life seems sweet, until one day the cubs are left home alone and one of their greatest threats, an Indian leopard is near by.
3/30/2008
