3 Royal Bengal Tiger cubs born at Bengal Safari Park

Darjeeling: There is reason to cheer at the Bengal Safari Park, Siliguri. Sheela, the tigress gave birth to three cubs on Monday, thereby ringing in success to the captive breeding programme at the Park.

"On Wednesday Sheela gave birth to three cubs between 4:45am and 7:20 am. Sheela had been paired with Vivan. The cubs are in the best of health and spirit. Sex determination has not been done yet as we are not going near them at present," stated Dharam Deo Rai, Director of the Park.

With the birth of the three cubs, the tiger population at the Park is now seven including Sheela, Vivan, Rika and Kika. Incidentally Sheela had given birth to three cubs in April 2018. She had been paired with Snehasish, a male tiger. In May Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee while on a visit to the district had named the cubs Ika, Kika and Rika. However Ika later died from an infection on the hind leg. Snehasish and Sheela were initially brought in to the Alipore zoo from the Nandankanan Zoo in Bhubaneswar, Odisha in February 2016. The pair were then shifted to Bengal Safari Park in December 2016.

In December 2018 Snehasish had been shifted to the Alipore Zoo in Kolkata for the breeding programme and Vivan was brought in from a zoo in Jharkhand.

On October 1, 2019, Rika and Kika were released in the display area of the safari park. The then forest minister Bratya Basu, who was present during the release had expressed desire to take up the captive breeding programme on a larger scale. 5 hectares of land was added to the existing area for this project. A go ahead was also acquired from the Central Zoo Authority for the programme.

"It is great news for North Bengal amidst the lockdown. The three cubs are being looked after well by the staff and vets of the Safari Park" stated Gautam Deb, Tourism Minister.

A dream project of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the park had been inaugurated by her in 2016. The Park is spread over an area of 290 hectares.

At present the park has elephants, Royal Bengal tigers, leopards, Barking deer, spotted deer, Sambars, Rhino, six Gharials, a pair of Himalayan Black Bear and birds. It boasts of a herbivore safari, tiger safari, leopard safari, bear safari and elephant safari and a rail less toy train. Bengal Safari Park has emerged as one of the most prominent tourist destinations in North Bengal.