Bhubaneswar: The authorities of Nadankanan zoo have pulled up their socks to rear the female tiger cub that was born in the zoo on Saturday after one of the litters died on Sunday.

Six-year-old tigress, Ankita, had given birth to two cubs on Friday night but one of them died after the mother rejected it.

A zoo official said since the newborn male cub died after his mother rejected him, they decided to separate the other cub from the mother. "The cub has been kept under observation and a team of doctors are monitoring its health regularly," said deputy director of the zoo Jayant Dash.

The cub is being fed 20ml of dog milk every two hours.

"It has been kept in a paper box and the box is sanitised regularly. The weight of the cub is 1,150 grams and its heath condition is now stable. The tigress grabs its cubs with her teeth and moves them about but when she grabs them tightly, it leads to injury. This cub also has suffered minor injuries for which we are administering medicine through injection. We have also kept electric bulbs to regulate the temperature of the room where it has been kept," said Dash.

A post-mortem report of the dead cub revealed internal injury. "The mother held the cub too tightly with her teeth and that led to the rupture of its lungs. After we noticed the dead cub, we decided to separate the other one from the mother. Surprisingly, the mother did not resist," said a zoo official.

The official said utmost care was being taken by the vets to ensure the cub did not develop any infection.

"The amount of milk will be increased in another week. Tiger cubs live on milk for two to three months. We hope this cub will survive," the official said. Nandankanan currently is home to 25 tigers, including the cub.