White tigress mates with Royal Bengal tiger, delivers cubs

INDORE: A white tigress has given birth to cubs at Kamla Nehru Zoo here after successful breeding with a Royal Bengal tiger shifted here from Bhopal's Van Vihar National Park last year.

The exact number of cubs born is, however, not yet known as the big cat is not letting anybody come near its enclosure.

"After the union of the five-year-old yellow tiger B-1 with the four-year-old white tigress, Deepa, few cubs were born on January 15 night," Zoo Incharge, Dr Uttam Yadav said.

He said the colour of cubs and other details will be known later.

"This is the second experiment of its kind in the state wherein cubs are born after the union of Royal Bengal tiger with white tigress. We are happy with the success of the breeding programme," he said.

In a similar experiment, four yellow cubs were born on September 5 last year after mating of the B-1 tiger with another four-year-old white tigress, Shivani.

"However, three among them died due to the lack of care while the one who survived is now four-and-a-half months old now," Yadav said.