AURANGABAD: Samruddhi, the eight-year-old tigress, gave birth to four cubs late on Friday night, taking the total number of tigers in the Aurangabad zoo to a dozen, making the city-based zoo, run by the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), the zoo with the highest number of tigers in the state.

The authorities also clarified that none of the cubs or the adult tigers will be given to any other zoos and considering the increase in the number of tigers that are residing in the city zoo, special arrangements will soon be made for them. Interestingly, the yellow tigress Samruddhi, who was paired with fellow yellow tiger Siddharth, delivered two white and two yellow cubs. The civic body’s veterinary department maintained that the possibility of a white tiger being in the lineage of either of Samruddhi or Siddharth cannot be ruled out. “The genetic virtues of a white tiger in the lineage of one of the parents, might have surfaced during this time, resulting in the birth of the two white cubs,” said Vijay Patil, the director in-charge of the zoo.

The authorities clarified that for at least the next 45 days, no one will be allowed to go anywhere near the cubs, as the infection that can result from coming in contact with human beings at such a young age, may take a toll on their lives. The city-based Siddharth Garden zoo in the year 2005 had procured a pair of yellow tigers called Dipti and Guddu, from a Chandigarh-based zoo. The pair had given birth to Samruddhi and Siddharth in 2010. A few years back, Samruddhi had given birth to a cub, but the cub did not survive the first few days. A couple of years back, she gave birth to four cubs, out of which three survived and have been named as Veer, Shakti and Bhakti.

Earlier, in March 2016, the civic body faced serious flak for the mishandling of a pregnant leopard. The death of three leopard cubs had set alarm bells ringing at the Sdidharth Garden Zoo, raising serious questions over the ability of the zoo authorities in handling the health conditions of the animals during their conceiving. The animal was Renu, a seven-year old leopardess brought from Baba Amte’s Animal Ark at Hemalkasa, situated in Gadhchiroli district. The zoo authorities, unaware of her pregnancy, were treating her for gastro since she had been brought to the city and it was only after she delivered the cubs that they learnt about her pregnancy.