The majestic Royal Bengal Tiger couple are formally introduced to the adoring visitors at the Chittagong zoo in city’s Foy’s Lake area on Friday Rabin Chowdhury/Dhaka TribuneChittagong Zoo authorities said that the male and female tigers, 11 and 9 months old respectively, would be named at a later ceremony.
Dr Shahadat Hossain Suvo, veterinary surgeon of Chittagong Zoo, said that the two Bengal tigers would reach their adulthood within 4-5 years.Also Read- Chittagong Zoo to bring Bengal Tigers from South Africa!
While tigers are not indigenous to South Africa, the country does hold a number of the big cats in wildlife preserves as part of conservation efforts. The zoo faced monumental challenges to collect the pair, according to officials. “The tiger pair was brought from abroad as the commercial farming of tigers is not allowed in the country,” the DC said.
The majestic Royal Bengal Tiger couple are formally introduced to the adoring visitors at the Chittagong zoo in city’s Foy’s Lake area on Friday Rabin Chowdhury/Dhaka TribuneAside from the illegality of tiger farming, requests for tigers from other zoos and safari parks in Bangladesh were denied due to various reasons, including a lack of available spare tigers.
The tiger cage at Chittagong Zoo has been lying empty since 2012. The last tigress of the zoo, Purnima, died of Spirocerca lupi disease on October 30, 2012 while her mate Chandra died in 2009. Both ‘Purnima’ and ‘Chandra’ were brought from Dhaka Zoo in 2004.
Set up on February 28, 1989, the zoo is now located on a six acres compound on hilly terrain in the city’s Foy’s Lake area.
The zoo now houses 360 animals from different 67 species. Of them, 34 are aviaries while the rest are either reptiles or mammals.
The majestic Royal Bengal Tiger couple are formally introduced to the adoring visitors at the Chittagong zoo in city’s Foy’s Lake area on Friday Rabin Chowdhury/Dhaka TribuneTo welcome the two big cats, the authorities adorned the zoo with spectacular decorations, including balloons and colourful ribbons. Scores of enthusiastic visitors poured in to the zoo to have a brief glimpse at the two new guests who were strutting in their cage.
The ceremony was attended by Chittagong additional deputy commissioners- Doulatuzzaman Khan and Abdul Jalil and Mominur Rashid, Chittagong additional district magistrate.
Deputy Curator of Chittagong Zoo Dr Mongur Morshed Chowdhury said that the big cats will be kept under intensive care for a period of 15 days, as they were yet to recover fully from their travel fatigue.