Pipli, December 1
Finding a suitable mate for a fierce tigress at the Mini Zoo here is puzzling the zoo authorities, especially after the tigress, Chandni, has injured two tigers.
Having brutally injured her first mate, Jwala, ultimately leading to his death, and biting off her second mate Krishna’s tail now, the elusive Chandni is still playing coy.
Worried over the inability of the tigress to procreate, the zoo authorities have now sought permission to shift Chandni and Krishna to other zoos.
They now want to get a pair (male and female) of tigers from the same zoo so that their mating can be initiated, and the zoo here gets a tiger family. Officials say that mating can be successful if the tiger and tigress are familiar with each other. “Thus we would prefer a young pair that has grown together in the zoo and have some affinity,” informs Mr Mangat Ram, Wildlife Inspector and in- charge of the zoo.
The matter will now be taken up with the Central Zoo Authority, so that permission is granted for the shifting of Chandni and Krishna, and getting a new pair from any other zoo in the country. Since Chandni will be sent back to MC Zoological Park, Chhatbir , as she was originally brought here from Chhatbir. Similarly, Krishana will be sent back to Kota Zoological Park in Rajasthan.
The fierce tigress was brought to Pipli Mini Zoo along with a tiger, Jwala, in the year 1997.
While Chandni was one-and-a-half-years-old, Jwala was just one-year-old. At the Pipli zoo, the pair was kept in a common enclosure, but in separate cages.
Three years ago, the zoo authorities decided to allow their mating, but Chandni critically injured Jwala at the time of mating.
A critically injured Jwala was given all possible medicare but he developed a blood infection and died. It was then decided that a new mate be found for Chandni. The Wildlife authorities here approached the Central Zoo Authority, and arrangements were made to bring a tiger from Kota.
When this tiger, Krishna, was brought here in October, 2003, he was six years of age. After a couple of months, the zoo authorities decided to allow the pair to mate, but as soon as Krishna was allowed near Chandni, she pounced on him and attacked him. In the fight she bit off his tail, even as the zoo officials rushed to Krishna’s rescue.
A portion of the tiger’s tail (almost one and a half feet) was almost ripped apart, and the veterinary surgeon had to amputate the tail for Krishna’s safety. Since then the two have been kept separately in cages, and at a time only one of them is allowed out of the cage.
The zoo authorities say that since the tiger is the main attraction in the zoo, the visitors are often disappointed to see just one of them. “The idea was to have a family of tigers here, and so we will have to shift them,” says an official.
