Visitors to the Mysuru Zoo on Sunday, July 16, regaled to the sights and antics of Surya, Chandra and Kabini, who have emerged as the cynosure of all eyes in the recent past.
For, these lions cubs born to lion Raju and lioness Nirbhaya were christened by the Minister for Forests, Ecology and Environment Eshwar B. Khandre here on Sunday.
While Surya and Chandra are male, Kabini is a female and were born on June 5, 2022 and are now an year old. Though they were released for public display in January this year, they were not christened so far but nevertheless used to draw visitors attraction. Also, being too young, they would cuddle around their mother for greater part of the day. Now that they are an year old, the cubs are reckoned to be a bundle of energy exploring the enclosure or engaging in playful acts much to the delight of the visitors.
At present, there are five lions at the Mysuru Zoo including 3 males and 2 females apart from the 3 cubs Surya, Chandra and Kabini. Of the 5 adult lions, 2 are Asiatic, 2 are African and 1 is Afro-Asiatic.
The mother of three cubs, Nirbhaya is Afro-Asiatic and was procured from Nandanvan Jungle Safari in Raipur, Chhattisgarh while the 6 year-old Raju is an Asiatic lion and was procured from Sakkarbaug Zoo in Gujarat in 2019 under animal exchange programme.
The zoo authorities have constantly monitored the behaviour and health of the cubs and found them to be normal. The Mysuru Zoo incidentally envisages to breed Asiatic lions in captivity and the birth of 3 cubs was one of the successes.
G.V. Ranga Rao, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Member Secretary, Zoo Authority of Karnataka, Kumar Pushkar, APCCF (Wildlife), D. Mahesh Kumar, Executive Director, Mysuru Zoo, A.J. Roshni, Deputy Director and other zoo and forest department staff were present.
