Tiger couple and three cubs revive Kheoni, once a forgotten forest

Madhya Pradesh: In the dry deciduous belt of the Malwa-Nimar region, a tiger pair has rewritten the future of a forest once dismissed as a transit corridor. Yuvraj and Meera, now the dominant pair at Kheoni Wildlife Sanctuary, have made Kheoni their home. They held territory, hunted, and eventually bred. Last month, the Dewas forest department confirmed what camera traps had suggested for weeks. Meera had given birth to three cubs.

Now just a few months old, the cubs are beginning to emerge, padding across clearings under their mother’s watch. Their arrival marks a turning point for Kheoni. Not long ago, the sanctuary could barely hold tigers. Today, anchored by a breeding pair and their litter, it supports a thriving tiger population. For a landscape that was overlooked, the presence of Yuvraj, Meera, and their three cubs signals recovery. A forest once seen only as a passage is becoming a home.