On Tuesday, a cub was found dead near Adhyalmendha lake near Jankapur village in Nagbhid tahsil. On Thursday, the half-burnt carcass of its sibling was found in a thicket. By Saturday, another cub was dead. The last was found by the forest staffers in a had shape. It died even as it was on saline drip. Their mothers are nowhere to be seen. This comes after a series of sighting of tigresses moving with their cubs reported from Vidarbha's rich forests all of last year, with this paper reporting 12 tigresses with 35 cubs. Most of them, 8 mothers and 25 cubs, were noticed outside the Protected Areas (Project Tiger and wildlife sanctuaries). Mendhki in Brahamapuri forest division in Chandrapur district saw two cubs almost getting killed by a mob in November. They were rescued, but one of them died in Nagpur zoo. Three cubs loitering near Junona, neighbouring Chandrapur city, were rescued and brought to Nagpur zoo in January. Tigresses and their cubs are disappearing fast. Mothers in all of the three recent cases, too, haven't been sighted. Including them, over the past five months, at least seven adults and eight cubs have vanished, at least two from Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR). Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) B Ma,jumdar, says. "Wildlife outside protected areas (PA) doesn't have the security a PA has. Here, we are talking of thousands of, square kilometres. The non-PA staff isn't trained to protect wildlife and basically do forestry jobs. That's why we have embarked on a special Corridor Development Project to cover such areas," he told The Indian Express. Asked if it didn't call for focused protection at Adhyalmendha when the Forest officials knew of presence of a tiger and a tigress and three cubs, Majumdar said, "It does. And our people have done it well." Majumdar said. "I am satisfied with their work. I know it is difficult to protect the animals in such areas because of various biotic pressures caused by villages in the vicinity. How do we keep check on miscreants all the 24 hours," he asks. The tiger-human conflict around -FAIR area has claimed over 50 lives over the last three years, turning villagers against tigers. Incidentally, a roar was last heard in the area on March 12. Meanwhile, the Nagbhid police had enquired about three strangers moving in Chindhi Maal village this month. Their names and addresses show they are from the Bahelia community of Madhya Pradesh, known for poaching activities. `This kind of information needs to be immediately shared with the Forest Department. That's what the mandate )f the Tiger Cells is," says Nitin ]esai, Central India director of he Wildlife Protection Society A India, the NGO that specialises in undercover operations to detect wildlife crimes.