Dhoni adopts tiger in Mysore Zoo

BANGALORE: Agasthya is one lucky tiger. For he’s been adopted by no less a personality than India’s cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The 2011 World Cup winning skipper on Wednesday handed over a sum of Rs 1 lakh to former India speedster Javagal Srinath, to be given to Mysore Zoo. While it may not make much of a dent in his deep pockets, for India’s tiger conservation plans, the noble gesture is bound to go a long way in inspiring many more philanthropists to come forward and contribute their mite for the noble cause.

“I am adopting Agashtya to endorse and encourage our people to love animals and to stand for the cause of animal rights and conservation,” said Dhoni, before he embarked on a long haul to the West Indies for the three-match Test series.

“The tiger, our national animal, needs protection,” added Dhoni. He also passed on the message of live and let live to the Indian populace, asking for animals to be allowed to co-exist peacefully with humans. For Mysoreans, as also the thousands of tourists who throng the city of palaces, this will come as an added attraction.

Srinath, who coordinated the whole thing with Dhoni, said a special enclosure is being created for Agashtya, and signboards, some of them containing Dhoni’s photograph, will lead visitors thronging Mysore Zoo to the majestic animal. The combined pull of the highly successful Indian captain and the 9-year-old male tiger would be too good an opportunity to pass up on.