2 playful Bengal Tiger cubs a huge draw at the Chhatbir zoo

Gaurav Kanthwal

Tribune News Service

Zirakpur, September 6

Two Bengal Tiger cubs born on May 8 this year were displayed at the Chhatbir zoo for the first time yesterday. The playful cubs got a good response from visitors and were a huge draw among children. After the reopening of zoo with the Covid protocol, the facility saw 4,600 visitors, the maximum in a single day, yesterday. The highest footfall in a single day, however, was recorded on January 2017 when 13,235 visited the zoo.

Chhatbir zoo Director Naresh Mahajan said, “The cubs were displayed for the first time and were a huge attraction. It was also for the first time that the cubs were exposed to visitors, and they were playful. After some time, they were withdrawn for relaxation and then reintroduced.”

Diya, a white tigress, had delivered two Bengal Tiger cubs at the Chhatbir zoo on May 8. Diya is an eight-year-old white tigress, while the sire is a Bengal Tiger, Aman, aged nine. Diya had delivered three cubs in 2019. The zoo authorities did not officially disclose the names of the cubs.

A zoo official said the duo was now on a normal diet and ate whatever the mother ate. They were having a healthy and good growth, they said.

The official said the newly inaugurated Dinosaur Park and Otter House were also drawing a good number of visitors.

Dinosaur Park exhibits lifelike interactive robotic models of the now extinct animal. It has been developed as an interactive and entertaining zoo education activity which will provide scientific awareness about the animal.

The zoo authorities have created a naturalistic exhibit with see-through glass so that the visitors can enjoy the playful underwater movements of otters.