Journalism of Courage
Meet Badal & Bijli: The wild tiger pair rescued from conflict now reviving Ludhiana’s safari
Over the years, the Ludhiana Tiger Safari has lost several big cats — some even under suspicious circumstances.
Badal & Bijli
Without a big cat for more than a year, the Ludhiana Zoo cum Tiger Safari welcomed a pair of Royal Bengal tigers — Badal (male) and Bijli (female), on Wednesday. Both aged between two and five years approximately, were acquired from Balasaheb Thackeray Gorewada International Zoological Park, Nagpur, Maharashtra.
The Ludhiana Zoo incharge, Narinder Singh, told The Indian Express: “Our lone tiger, Aman, died of old age issues in December 2024. Since then, the zoo has been without tigers. The Tiger Safari was closed. Now, we have welcomed this pair — Badal and Bijli — from Maharashtra. People can now visit the Safari which will be opened soon once both animals stabilise and adapt.”
The zoo incharge said, “This pair was born and raised in the wild… was rescued from the wild after they started having conflicts so we do not know their exact age. We have named them Badal and Bijli. We are hopeful they will adapt to Ludhiana zoo’s conditions soon. We are providing them with an adequate diet and other facilities.”
“As of now, both are stable and responding positively.”
He said, “For now, we have kept them in their enclosures but soon we will release them in the safari so that they live in a natural environment.”
The transfer of the pair from Maharashtra was led by Basanta Raj Kumar, Chief Wildlife Warden (Punjab), and Vikram Singh Kundra, Divisional Forest Officer (Wildlife), Phillaur.
Over the years, the Ludhiana Tiger Safari has lost several big cats — some even under suspicious circumstances.
In 2024, tiger Nav died of septicemia, a severe bloodstream infection. Another tiger named Chirag died in 2023 due to old age, while a pair — Money and Icchran — died of “natural causes” in 2020. In 2019, Deepak died of old-age issues, and two tigresses — Mohini and Elaichi — died of infections in 2013.
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