Jayalalithaa names tiger cubs at Vandaloor Zoo

Chennai, March 15: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa Friday gave names to seven tiger cubs at Vandaloor Zoo near here and also laid the foundation stone for several projects and inaugurated new buildings at the zoological park.

Jayalalithaa named two white female tiger cubs Cauvery and Chitra and two white male tiger cubs Arjuna and Athreya.

She also named three female Royal Bengal Tiger cubs Nethra, Vidhya and Arthi.

Jayalalithaa laid the foundation stone for buildings at the zoo and at other places to be built at an outlay of Rs.21.13 crore. One of the projects is the setting up of a rare wild animals breeding research centre.

She also inaugurated new buildings built at an investment of around Rs.1.41 crore.

Spread over 602 hectares, Vandaloor Zoo - also known as Arignar Anna Zoological Park - houses 45 types of mammals, 70 types of birds and 29 types of reptiles.

The zoo has 1,398 species and attracts around 20 lakh visitors every year.

The zoo also serves as a leading breeding centre for lion-tailed monkeys and white tigers.

IANS