According to zoo officials, three white tiger cubs were born at Delhi’s National Zoological Park on August 24. Both the cubs and their mother, seven-year-old Sita are in good health. This is the first time the Delhi Zoo has been successful in its white tiger breeding program in seven years. Zoo officials said that the cubs would be kept under observation for at least another month and they will be released into the chamber only after around three months after they have gained adequate strength and can also walk around.
Vijay, a seven-year-old white tiger has fathered the cubs, said the zoo officials, adding that the zoo last week lost a male white tiger, also named Vijay, because of old age. He was about 16 years old.
“The cubs are under observation and are all healthy. The mother is also doing well and is protective of the cubs. The last time Delhi Zoo successfully bred white tigers were in 2015 and Sita was one of the white tiger cubs in that litter,” said Dharamdeo Rai, Director, Delhi Zoo.
The last time Delhi Zoo tried breeding white tigers was in 2020 when six-year-old white tigress Nirbhaya was mated with a Royal Bengal tiger, giving birth to two white tiger cubs. However, she passed away shortly after delivering the two cubs because she suffered difficulties due to a third cub still inside. While one of the two delivered cubs survived only for a few hours, the other cub died within a week.
With the latest additions, Delhi Zoo has seven white tigers and four Royal Bengal tigers. White tigers owe colour due to the absence of pigment pheomelanin which is found in the Royal Bengal tigers giving their fur the characteristic orange tint.
