Bhilai’s Maitri Baag Zoo, managed by the Horticulture Section of SAIL-Bhilai Steel Plant’s Town Services Department (TSD) has witnessed the successful birth of White-Tiger cubs for the second time in 2023. Nine-year-old White Tigress 'Roma' gave birth to a litter of 02 male cubs on 08^th September 2023. Born with white-colored fur and blue eyes the royal white tiger cubs who are nearing almost 05 months of age now, will be made available for public view on 05^th January, 2024 by releasing them inside a bigger enclosure.

Another white tigress 'Raksha' has given birth to a litter of 03 cubs on 28th April 2023, who were named ‘Rustam’, ‘Rana’ and ‘Bobby’. The new births take the total number of white tigers at the Maitri Baag Zoo to 10.

Tigresses are overly cautious and secretive when caring for young cubs. Therefore till now the tigress and the cubs have been kept in a separate enclosure with controlled lighting to create a cave-like ambiance. Mother Tigress 'Roma' spends most of her time nursing the litter. In view of the same, news of the birth of tiger cubs is not made public during the first four months.

The cubs duo who were on mother’s milk, have started consuming flesh, after being trained by the mother tigress. Currently, about the size of a big-sized dog, the cubs spend their day playing, pouncing, and wrestling with each other, which helps the growing cubs inculcate life skills such as stalking, pouncing, swatting, and climbing. Under the guidance of Dr. N.K. Jain, DGM (Horticulture-TSD), who is the Zoo’s Chief Veterinary Officer, a team of Zoo-keepers including Shri. Moharram, Shri. Narsaiyya and Shri. Mohan ensures adequate care of the Zoo’s tigers, including the mother and the litter.

Plenty of food and vitamin and calcium-rich health supplements are being administered to the nursing tigresses to enhance the milking, nourishment, and healthy growth of the cubs. Since the gestation period of about three and half months, tigress Roma has been attended regularly by veterinary medical experts for supervision of its vital health parameters.

 

Tiger cubs are extremely sensitive to temperature, and given the winter conditions, special arrangements for a wood fire were made inside the enclosure to keep the mother and cubs warm especially from December to mid-January.

Dr. N.K. Jain, DGM (Horticulture-TSD), said that perhaps no other species embodies the conservation issue more than the tiger. Sleek and graceful, powerful and exotic, the tiger is the very definition of majesty yet their numbers in the wild are dwindling. People should become more aware and take the initiative to save jungles. With the sincere conservation efforts of the BSP Management, Maitri Baag is one of the top zoos in India with the highest numbers of White Tigers, Dr. Jain said.

 

Maitri Baag has been actively involved in the breeding of white tigers. In 1997, a white-tiger pair Tarun & Tapsi was brought from Nandan Kanan Zoo, Bhubaneswar, which gave birth to a litter of 04 white tiger cubs in 1999. The Maitri Baag management, that has bred over 12 white tigers in the past, has also provided to more than 05 Zoos in the country, including Jawaharlal Nehru Zoological Park, Bokaro, Zoological Garden, Lucknow, Zoological Park, Rajkot, Indira Gandhi Prani Sangrahalay, Indore, and Mukundpur Zoological & Rescue Centre, Rewa, as per the animal exchange rules laid down by the Central Zoo Authority.

 

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