Tigers in Central Zoo fast on Saturdays

Six Royal Bengal tigers (four male and two female) have been kept in the Central Zoo in Jaulakhel, Lalitpur. Each of them is fed five kilograms of buffalo meat every day, meaning approximately Rs 5.6 million has been spent a year on feeding all of them, said Ganesh Koirala, the information officer for the zoo.

However, all of them fast on Saturdays just to avoid economic burden. Number of tigers is adding beyond capacity. This comes with economic burden as well, he said. “The zoo houses the number of tigers beyond capacity. On the other hand, economic burden adds along with tigers being added. So, all tigers here fast on Saturdays. What they take is only water during fasting,” he said.

The tigers are called by their different names such as Bange (age 18), Maharaja (age 13), Bagaura (age 12), Pratap (age 9), Jagati (age 8) and Maharani (age 5).

The five-year-old Maharani was released into the Zoo on April 23 after it attacked and killed a woman in Kanchanpur district. On April 21, the tiger straying into Pachui village of Belauri Municpality-8 attacked and killed one Ganga Devi Chand, 42.

Following this, a joint team of the Division Forest Office, Kanchanpur, the park office, the Nepal Police, the Armed Police Force, the Nepal Army, the Shuklaphanta Conservation office took her under control and released in the zoo. Now, she has been kept in quarantine.

In the first initial days, she refused to eat. Pratap (male) and Jagati (female) have been kept together, and plan is afoot to keep Maharani with Maharaj after her health improves, said Koirala.