The tiger enclosures in the Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park have been abuzz with activity for the last one week and the ambience is made lively with the arrival of seven tiger cubs, including three of white tigers and four of Royal Bengal Tigers.
The zoo has already been touted to be the most suitable for breeding of white tigers and could become the prime breeding centre in the country if proper facilities are provided. Two white tigers Ranadheer (male) and Hasina (female), which were relocated from the Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad to this zoo in March 2005, had produced four litters totalling 14 cubs. Another new pair Sameer (male) and Keerthi (female) were introduced in August 2011. Sameer and Rani (a female cub of the previous couple) produced two litters of four each, totalling eight cubs.
Similarly, Royal Bengal Tigers were introduced first in December 2000, when a male Badal and two females Arathi and Pranathi were brought from the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park, Visakhapatnam. The aged ones could not yield any progeny, but two pairs brought in 2013 from Hyderabad and another pair from the Bannerghatta Biological Park in 2014 successfully produced a litter of three cubs on October 1. “This is the first time our zoo is witnessing the birth of Royal Bengal Tigers,” says curator Y. Srinivasa Reddy.
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Meanwhile, Minister for Environment and Forest Bojjala Gopalakrishna Reddy visited the zoo and enquired about the health of the cubs. Since human movement around the enclosure could make the tigers go wild and endanger the lives of the cubs, the Minister and the forest officials watched the tigers via a CCTV camera system. “So far, the total number of tigers born in this zoo is 22,” said Mr. Reddy.
The zoo also has an enviable collection of 12 lions.