Four cubs of tiger 'Jagan' up for adoption at Tirupati zoo

Tirupati: Four 9-month-old white tiger cubs are awaiting adoption at Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park, Tirupati. Their father is Jagan, a big cat named after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. The cost of adoption is Rs 2.88 lakh per cub a year, said, zoo officials.

Assistant Conservator of Forest Palagiri Dhanraj said, “It is not compulsory to adopt a cub for the whole year. A person can pay any amount and we will divide it into days and mention that a cub was adopted for that particular period by the person.” The cost of adoption for a day works out to Rs 790, he said.

The cubs, two male and two female, are named Vasu, Siddhan, Vijaya and Durga and authorities made the adoption announcement on December 26. "Nobody has adopted them yet," said a zoo official.

According to zoo authorities, a person can adopt the entire enclosure of cubs for Rs 26 lakh. The money collected will be used on food and medicines for the animals and maintenance of the enclosure. The tigers are fed with beef and milk daily. The details of adoption have been uploaded on the zoo's website, said the officials.

Other than the white tiger cubs, the zoo offers animals like elephants, wild dogs, white peacock and porcupine for adoption. The Tirupati zoo was opened to the public in 1993 and has been tagged a medium zoo by the Centre.