Post News Network
Bhubaneswar July 28: On the occasion of the first birthday of the four tiger cubs born last year at Nandankanan Zoo, the cubs were allowed to appear before the public from Tuesday onwards.
The cubs were born to zoo-born parents, a normal male tiger named Manish and a white female tiger named Sneha. Out of the four cubs two are normal tigers, of which one is a female named Aninee and the other a male named Snehasis. Both Aninee and Snehasis look like their father Manish. The other two cubs are melanistic, as they have a preponderance of black stripes, making them look more like black tigers – a rare variety in zoos across the world – and are named Krishna and Subhransu. Subhranshu has black stripes mixed with white while Krishna has a thick coating of black stripes.
The zoo authorities were about to celebrate the event Tuesday by inviting school kids and cutting a cake but the programme was canceled due to the sudden demise of former President APJ Abdul Kalam.
Speaking to Orissa POST, assistant director of Nandankanan zoological park, KL Purohit said, “The four cubs will be allowed to appear before the public from Tuesday onwards. The cubs which were born July 28 last year have completed a year. We had planned to celebrate the first birthday of the cubs but due to the sudden death of former President APJ Abdul Kalam all the function has been canceled. Since the zoo had to function like on normal days, we have released the cubs for public viewing in the presence of senior zoo officials.
This is the first time melanistic tigers are being exhibited in any zoo in the world. “There is no record of melanistic tigers in any other zoo in the world. This is for the first time that a zoo is exhibiting melanistic tigers which are only found in forests like Similipal. The cubs are now around 2 feet high and from head to tail around 6 feet,” said Purohit.
The visitors can see the four tigers in the 30 A enclosure along with their mother. The tigers were separated from their father immediately after birth. Despite rain many visitors who went to zoo were excited at the opportunity to have the experience of watching melanistic tigers. “I heard that this is the first time a melanistic tiger has been exhibited. It is really great that we got an opportunity to have a glimpse of them. They looked very cute and healthy,” said Apurva Banerjee who visited the zoo along with his family members Tuesday.