To ascertain black cub’s birth
The Nandankanan Zoo authorities are seriously contemplating to conduct DNA test to ascertain the scientific reason as to how a black cub was born to a white tigress and a Royal Bengal tiger on Sunday last.
The test would be conducted on all the four cubs, including the black one, besides their parents, tigress Sneha and tiger Manish.
“We are planning to go for a DNA analysis of the black tiger cub along with three other cubs and their parents to find out the reason behind the birth of a black tiger cub.
Since there is no DNA analysis facility at the zoo or in Odisha, we will take help of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) at Dehradun for the purpose,” informed Nandankanan Zoo Director Sudarsan Panda.
On Tuesday, the zoo claimed that Nandankan is the first in the country to have a black tiger cub born in the captivity. Notably, such a tiger species was spotted in Similipal Tiger Reserve in past.
Of the four cubs born at the Nandankan Zoo, one was black, one white, one has colour of a Royal Bengal tiger, while the last one is semi-blackish.
