Four tigers — two rescued/captured in the wild and two born in captivity — have been shifted to the conservation, rescue and rehabilitation centre set up by the Mysore zoo at Koorgalli on the outskirts of the city. One of the reasons for shifting the tigers is the space constraint at the zoo hospital and the Tiger House (where tigers are kept for public display).
Usually, animals — mainly carnivores such as tigers — that have been rescued or captured from the wild are housed in a specially-built enclosure at the zoo hospital. In the absence of an independent rescue centre, the animals were kept at the zoo. The rescue centre was therefore proposed as the zoo lacked space to accommodate animals brought in for rehabilitation.
Zoo Executive Director B.P. Ravi, who is the Chief Conservator of Forests, told The Hindu the four tigers were shifted to the rescue centre on Friday. Mr. Ravi said the zoo cannot keep rescued wild animals on its premises for a long period as such animals need independent space for their rehabilitation under natural conditions.
The tigers
While Cauvery (19) is one of the oldest wild tigers housed at the zoo, another wild tiger, nicknamed ‘Okkanna’, is 12 years old.
Amulya was born at the zoo in 2002, while Vayuputra is a two-year-old. With the shifting of the four tigers, the zoo now houses 11 tigers.
Vayuputra, Mruthyunjaya and Prithvi were born to white tigress Manya. Renowned yoga guru B.K.S. Iyengar, who died last year, had adopted Vayuputra and Mruthyunjaya for a year paying a fee of Rs. 2 lakh.
The new facility has become functional for housing rescued and injured wild animals brought to the zoo by the Forest Department for rehabilitation.
The centre, which is yet to be inaugurated, has come up in a portion of land at Koorgalli where 113.21 acres was allotted to the Zoo Authority of Karnataka (ZAK) to establish the country’s biggest gaur conservation centre.
