Mysore/Mysuru: It was a moment of joy for visitors to Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, popularly known as Mysuru Zoo yesterday as they were given a chance for the first time to see the cubs of albino (white) tigress Thara that had given birth to three cubs on April 26, 2022.

The cubs and the mother were out of bounds for the visitors till now as extra care had to be taken to ensure that the cubs grow well and healthy. Yesterday, Mysuru District Minister S.T. Somashekar initiated the public viewing of the albino mother and non-albino cubs by releasing the cubs to open enclosures.

The eight-month-old cubs are healthy and are bound to attract more visitors in the current Christmas and New Year seasons. Among the three cubs, two are females and one male and each cub weighs between 30-35 kilograms.

The cubs were born to Thara after a gap of nine years and have been closely monitored till now by vets with the help of CCTV cameras installed in Thara’s enclosure. Zoo authorities said the cubs were born to 8-year-old Thara and 8-year-old Rocky.

Rocky was rescued in 2018 from the wild at Shettihalli in Hunsur Range. Thara, brought to the Mysuru Zoo in 2018 from Chennai Zoo, is one of the two white tigresses at the Zoo, the other being Manya, who had bred several times.

The Mysuru Zoo is at the forefront of tiger conservation and the tigers at the Zoo were not allowed to mate for a few years and hence no cubs were born. As there was a demand for tigers from other Zoos, Thara and Rocky were allowed to mate and three cubs were born to them. One male cub born to Thara and Rocky will be shifted to Chitradurga Zoo in the coming days, said Zoo authorities.

At present, the Mysuru Zoo houses 11 tigers of which three are males, five females and three cubs. There are six male tigers at the Chamundi Animal Conservation, Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre set up by the Mysuru Zoo at Koorgalli and all of them have been rescued from the wild and are in a healthy condition. 

MLA S.A. Ramdas, Mayor Shivakumar, Deputy Commissioner Dr. K.V. Rajendra, Zoo Authority of Karnataka Chairman Shivakumar, Karnataka Exhibition Authority Chairman Mirle Srinivas Gowda, City BJP President T.S. Srivatsa, Yuva Morcha President Kiran Gowda and others were present when the cubs were released to the open enclosure.