Fourteen tiger cubs have been spotted in a reserve in north-western India, forestry officials say.

The sightings are a rare piece of good news in the fight to halt the steep decline in tiger numbers in India.

Forestry officials in Ranthambhore National Park in Rajasthan say the cubs are from several mothers and have been seen regularly in recent months.

Ranthambore had just 32 tigers at the last count. India is thought to have 1,500 tigers, half the world's total.

But conservationists say they face extinction unless urgent action is taken to save them.

There is some good news on the tiger population front in India. After drastically falling during the past five years . The increasingly endangered animals' numbers have fallen to 1,411, down from 3,642 in the last major survey in 2002. But now more than dozen cubs have been seen lately in the Ranthambhore sanctuary in India.