Three tiger cubs born in Nandankanan

Bhubaneswar: Three tiger cubs, including a melanistic one, were born to white tigress, Sneha, at Nandankanan on Friday morning.

"We are yet to know the sex of the cubs because we cannot enter the enclosure for one month as the newborns have to be quarantined. We came to know that one cub is melanistic from CCTV footage through which we are also keeping a watch on them," said zoo director Sisir Acharya.

The melanistic cubs are rare and have black stripes on the body. Zoo officials said male Royal Bengal Tiger (RBT) Manish is the father of the cubs. Two years ago, four cubs were born to Manish and Sneha. Last year, two melanistic cubs born to Sneha were brought to the enclosure, which is the first instance of such a breed being kept in an enclosure, said Acharya, adding the newborns are healthy.

Five tigers have been born in the zoo since April. The same month tigress Megha gave birth to two cubs after mating with Nandan, which was born in the forest. The wild gene in the cubs will help in the birth of a healthy animals in the future.

Nandan, the RBT, which had strayed into the zoo in 2013 became a father for the first time with its partner Megha, which was born in zoo. Megha also became the mother for the first time. Earlier, parents of all the cubs were born in the zoo.