Dubai: On August 15, the Delhi Zoo had two reasons to celebrate. Not only was it the 72nd Independence Day of the country, but the zoo welcomed the birth of two tiger cubs, after 27 years.
The furry babies were given a warm welcome on social media and pictures of them quickly made rounds on the internet.
The cubs are offsprings of a mixed pair of tigers. In May 2018, The Indian Express newspaper did a story about a blossoming romance between a yellow-striped Royal Bengal tiger and a white tiger. The three-year-old white tigress is called Nirbhaya and the five-year-old Royal Bengal tiger is named Karan.
At the time, the director of the Delhi Zoo Renu Singh said in an interview with the India-based newspaper: “They were introduced to each other... in a private enclosure… we wanted to see if they have chemistry, will they fight or not. They sniffed each other and seem to get along... We got them married.”
According to a report by the Times of India, an English newspaper in the country, the cubs are being monitored and will be put on a special diet in the next few months.
The cubs have not been named yet and will not be put out in the public eye. According to reports they are well and healthy.
Tweep @suzmw03 said: “If one of the babies is a girl, please name that fierce baby Aretha after the Queen.” This comes after the death of music icon, Aretha Franklin.
And @JatanMudgal said: “Majestic animal. Hope their numbers increase further.”
While many people were excited to name the cubs, others talked about the existence of zoos and whether they were helpful in protecting animals or not.
