Four white tigers born in captivity

Hyderabad, Jan 12 (UNI) Four white tigers born in captivity in the Nehru Zoological Park here are attracting visitors and animal lovers alike.

Tigress Sunita (9) gave birth to two males - Shankar and Sameer and two females - Samuel and Swathi in September last year.

Zoo authorities, however, did not publicise the birth of the cubs for the fear of visitors carrying infections and other environmental vagaries.

Zoo Director Bhaskar Reddy said the white tiger, which is a major attraction in any zoo the world over, is not a separate breed at all. He said a white tiger is the aberration of a child of the Royal Bengal Tiger whereas the visitors and animal lovers feel that a white tiger is born of a white tigress and is a separate breed.

Bhaskar Reddy told UNI that as people give birth to children with white patches who later become totally white, the white tigers are a deformity.

Sunita, the white tigress was spending a lonely life and the Zoo authorities started a hunt for its mate. Finally they fixed the tiger Rudra(10) from Nandan Kanan Forest in Orissa also suffering from aberration and brought the two together.

Their four cubs are growing healthy under the mother's care.

The Zoo authorities slowly started feeding them vitamins and other nutrition and the kids became stronger.

Zoo authorities slowly introduced soft (boneless) chicken in the diet of the cubs. When they could withstand non-vegetarian food, authorities introduced easily digestible beef pieces which the cubs are relishing, said Bhaskar Reddy.

Now that the cubs have become immune to infections, they are placed in an enclosure to the delight of the visitors, children and elders alike.

UNI