Tiger couple clicks in zoo, cubs on cards

Experiment after 27 years

NEW DELHI: Months after the unique mating of a white tigress with a royal Bengal tiger at the Delhi zoo, there may be good news on the cards. According to sources at the zoo, the white tigress is pregnant and is expected to deliver soon.

The 3-year old white tigress Nirbhaya was mated with 5-year old Bengal tiger Karan in May, with zoo authorities even releasing them in the same enclosure for around seven days for visitors to see.

“We are hopeful at this moment and if everything goes according to plan, the white tigress would deliver cubs by September. We are also providing extra care to the animal so that she gets all the required nutrition,” said a zoo official.The zoo has modified the diet of Nirbhaya, providing extra protein in the form of eggs and chicken while monitoring her health multiple times during the day.

The zoo had last welcomed cubs from such a pair 27 years again 1991, when another white tigress and a royal Bengal tiger were mated. The resultant offsprings were one white tiger and one royal Bengal tiger.

Officials said the idea behind mating them was to improve their gene pool and reduce inbreeding among them.

“The yellow tigers introduce the dominant gene and this then helps in producing healthier offsprings. If white tigers breed among themselves, the offsprings can have problems and complications and so it is important to break that,” said an official.

(Photos by Arvind Yadav/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)