White tigress gives birth to two cubs along with four stillborn at Chhat Bir Zoo

The mother and cubs have been kept in a special enclosure barring the entry of anyone, including zoo keepers in the particular area. The mother and the cubs are being monitored through CCTV surveillance and the young ones were stated to be in good health.

“I believe the moments were also special for Gauri, which earlier delivered a single cub which could not survive. That cub had died merely six days after its birth in April, 2020. That time, Gauri was paired with another tiger named Luksh. The moments would also be special for Royal Bengal tiger, Arjun, who for the first time was paired with any tigress and achieved parenthood. Gauri was brought to Chhat Bir Zoo at the age of four from Pradhyuman Zoological Park, Rajkot, in 2019. Tiger Arjun was born from the pairing of Royal Bengal Tiger, Aman, and white tigress, Diya, at Chhat Bir Zoo in 2019… The gestation period of a tigress is around 90 to 110 days. The birth of stillborn cubs to a tigress is an expected thing. Usually, a litter consists of four to six cubs and chances of mortality of half of the cubs out of all the born always remain,” a senior zoo officer said.

Director Chhat Bir Zoo, Kalpna K, IFS, said, “It is a joyous occasion for the zoo administration since it is a result of the sincere efforts and hard work of the dedicated team of zoo animal management team, zoo keepers, veterinary wing and biologist since April, 2023 who successfully carried out the pairing of Arjun and Gauri by following scientific management practices. The zoo team has made all arrangements for prenatal, neo natal and post natal care and the animal management team and the veterinary wing are vigilantly monitoring the mother and the two cubs through CCTV surveillance. The mother and the cubs have shown normal behavior and the two cubs have been observed to be actively suckling.”

Meanwhile, the mother and cubs have been quarantined as per protocols and kept under critical care management with proper bedding arrangements and supplements, and are in strict isolation to create the best possible and infection-free environment for the next three months.