Date:04/10/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/10/04/stories/2006100417440200.htm

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Tigress gives birth to four healthy cubs

Staff Reporter

Cubs still with their mother in a special delivery room at Nehru Zoological Park

HYDERABAD: The feline population at the Nehru Zoological Park has gone up with Sunita, a tigress giving birth to four cubs here recently. The newborns are still with the mother in the delivery room. They have been described as healthy and doing well by the officials.

Except for the animal keeper and occasional visits by zoo veterinarian, even regular staff is prohibited from entering the delivery room, which is an isolated space in the zoo premises.

The room, which is dimly lit with sunlight prevented from filtering in, provides an appropriate shelter for cubs in their early days, the zoo authorities say.

"The young ones take some days to open their eyes and acclimatise. Till that time, the tigress suckle the cubs and prefer to keep them away from bright light," says zoo director P. Bhaskar Reddy. The cubs were born on September 22 and since then have been in the delivery room. According to Mr. Reddy, once they are able to stand and walk, the cubs will amble out of isolation with mother in tow.

"Most of the zoo staff is eagerly waiting to see the new members of the zoo," he says.

The special delivery room at the zoo has several special provisions. "It has a facility of making food and water available without the animal keeper having to enter," adds Mr. Reddy.