Bhubaneswar: An eight-month-old Royal Bengal Tiger (RBT) cub from Similipal Tiger Reserve dispersed from its mother on Thursday night and strayed into human habitation at Khaparakhia under Karanjia wildlife division in Mayurbhanj district.The cub, which hid itself inside a cattle shed, was rescued without tranquilisation. It was very weak and its gender is not known yet. “A cage was placed close to it. And, as our personnel watched, the RBT walked into the cage on its own. We covered the cage to prevent it from coming in contact with human beings. The cub will be kept in the dark after veterinary examination,” said field director, Similipal Tiger Reserve, Prakash Gogineni.Wildlife authorities said it is very rare that tiger cubs in the wild get separated from their mother before turning one-and-a-half years old. “We will check from our database whether the cub has been captured earlier in a camera trap. If we get the data, we will be able to know who its mother is,” added Gogineni.Wildlife authorities said the RBT will not be released back into the wild of Similipal soon. “We have a small enclosure in south Similipal, where tigress Yamuna had been kept in quarantine before being released in Nov 2024. We are planning to keep the rescued RBT for around three weeks so that its health and agility is renewed. We will provide small prey animals inside the enclosure for it to hunt so that its wild nature does not wane. Only then will a decision be taken on its release,” said PCCF (wildlife) Prem Kumar Jha.The dispersal of an RBT cub from Similipal is very rare. In May this year, a melanistic tiger hide was seized by Similipal authorities. It was a sub-adult (less than 2 years) male melanistic tiger that dispersed close to human habitation, where it was killed by poachers. Three persons were arrested.Similipal authorities said tigers usually remain elusive even if they come close to human habitations. There are hundreds of villages around Similipal’s fringe area.