For mammals, being a mother is an almost universally taxing experience. Most mammals are born small, vulnerable, and unable to defend themselves from threats, but also often cute and playful.
Ankit Banso filmed this small tiger family, and sent the footage to Latest Sightings. Although these tiger cubs would one day be deadly predators just like their mom, for the time being they were cute and mischievous.
Overwhelmed
From the very beginning, the cubs outnumbered their mom, so she was facing poor odds. Sure, these little tiger cubs were tiny and cute, but there were two of them and they were relentless.
It appeared to be bath time, much to the disgust of the cubs that were actively fighting back in a two against one contest. One of the adult tiger’s forelegs was almost the size of the two cubs themselves, but still they resisted, likely thinking it was a wonderful game.
They were so small that they weren’t even on solid food yet, and the better behaved cub moved to suckle once its mom had made sure it was nice and clean. The other, lying on its back where it could employ all four limbs as weapons, didn’t behave as well.
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Playtime Is The Best Time
Like most other kinds of young mammals that take time to grow and mature, these formative years involve lots of learning. Boundaries are discovered, the limits of acceptable behaviors tested, and the strength and talents of hunting learned.
Rough and tumble play is the most efficient way to check all of these developmental boxes. It builds the strength these tigers will need as adults, and teaches them the basics of establishing or maintaining a hierarchy of dominance.
Perhaps most importantly, it’s simply fun for these animals to roll around with their siblings and wrestle with their mom. The responsibilities of adulthood will come for them eventually, but that’s not something for them to worry about yet.
Ever The Watchful Eye
For the mom, those responsibilities are deeply ingrained into her. As soon as her badly-behaved cub went to bother its sibling instead, her gaze immediately turned to the camera and remained there.
She was aware that Ankit was videoing her, and she was aware of the vulnerable situation she was in with two young cubs that she would need to protect. If she had thought for one moment that Ankit might have been a threat she would have no choice but to act.
Even if she knew that Ankit was not a threat, as she had evidently decided by her lack of action, she still kept a wary eye on the camera, just in case it proved to be something different.
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Just A Bothersome Little Guy
This cub was clearly in a playful mood, even if its mom and sibling were not. Its sibling was just trying to feed and wasn’t being particularly active, but the poor little tiger was about to be as bothered as its mom.
With her focus on Ankit, the mom didn’t break up the minor scuffle that followed as the annoying tiger cub started bothering its sibling, trying to tempt it to come and play. Despite this, the cubs were still incredibly cute.