Vishalakshi Devi was very fond of wildlife. She and her husband Gajendra Singh had even setup ‘Tusker Trails,’ a wildlife resort on the borders of Bandipur, a few years ago.

It may be recalled that the Forest Department had given them two leopard cubs, which Vishalakshi Devi and Gajendra Singh named Baby and Bully and reared them. Once the cubs grew, they were released into the forest.

“It was my wife Visha who really nurtured Baby and Bully like children. They were so fond of her that they always used to play with her with gay abandon whenever she came from Bengaluru to be with them. Finally, we had to release the leopards into the wild for them to be with their own members. She was also fond of elephants and nurtured them too,” said an emotional Gajendra Singh, speaking to Star of Mysore last evening.