New born tiger cub dies at Tata zoo

Jamshedpur, Jan 6 (PTI) A new born tiger cub died in Tata Steel Zoological Park (TSZP) here after its mother abandoned it soon after birth on November 27 last year. The nearly 40-day-old cub could not develop as it should have as its mother, Shanti abandoned it about 10 days after its birth, Vipul Chakraborty, Director of TSZP, said today. 'The cub should have proper and regular feeding from its mother but unfortunately, it was abandoned', he said claiming that the TSZP staff tried its best after the cub had a 50:50 chance of survival. Chakraborty said a post-mortem has been conducted and it was decided the body would be preserved in the museum in the zoo. Earlier, after the death of tigers Ben and Shyamli in 2009 and 2010 respectively, Shanti, their only surviving offspring was left as the single point attraction in the Tiger’s fence in the zoo. Hopes of future propagation of tigers in Tata Zoo seemed to be a distant dream following the death of Ben and Shyamli. Consequently, a clarion call was made to major zoos in India to spare a male tiger for pairing with Shanti. Soon thereafter, Assam State Zoo, Guwahati accepted a proposal to exchange Raghav, a young five year old male Tiger, with a pair of Emu birds. Raghav received a warm welcome at Tata Zoo on 24th March last year and thereafter, attempts were made to pair Raghav and Shanti. Hopes renewed as the pair soon started their courtship which resulted in the birth of a healthy cub on November 27 last year, after a gap of over a decade in TSZP, which would be celebrating its 22nd anniversary this month. PTI BS CR

PTI | 04:01 PM,Jan 06,2012

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