The Pride of Mysore Zoo.

With the 2013 Dasara Mahotsava just around the corner, Mysore City is very proud to celebrate news on the arrival of 4 baby tiger cubs. To commemorate the World Tiger Day, the four little cubs –two males and two females –were for the first time allowed out for public viewing. The two month old cubs could be seen mischievously exploring their captive surroundings with a curious expression on their innocent face.

Many people had come to the zoo on the World Tiger Day, just to get a glimpse of these cute babies. Mr. B.P.Ravi, the executive director of Mysore Zoological Garden was also present among the bystanders. When enquired about the well being of the cubs and their mother Manya, an eight year old majestic White Tigress, Mr. Ravi was pleased to say that all of them are at the prime of their health and the cubs are adapting very well to the zoo environment. He even stated that when Manya and her cubs are inside their den, the footage of the cubs and their mother caught on CCTV camera present inside the den will be displayed outside on a television for public viewing during Dasara time. This will also be uploaded on their Website.

I was very happy to hear such positive news from Mr. Ravi, who is doing a very fine job as the director by uplifting the quality and maintenance of the zoo and its captive members. His promotion on the scientific implementation of gene manipulation and captive breeding in order to produce stronger and healthier cubs has become a success.

When compared to the zoo that I visited during my childhood days to the zoo which I visited today, there has been a marginal change in its surroundings. There is a neat order and discipline with which the zoo staffs carry out the day to day activities inside the zoo. The staffs are more prominent towards preventing people from teasing the animals and the ban on plastic use sure has made our Mysore zoo ever green!

Everybody loves puppies

I’m basically a cat person. I adore them. And dogs? Not so much. But I can’t stay away from puppies. I mean come on, when you look at their eyes; you can’t help but make that ridiculous noise, “awww”. Nobody can dare escape from their stubborn cuteness.

The other day, my little cousin sisters begged me to accompany them near their granny’s house where they had seen five newly born puppies, alone as their momma seemed to have abandoned them. They also showed me a photo of one of the puppies. The little guy was damn cute and I mustered all my energy to say I have got some work at the house. Undeterred, the girls pulled my lazy brother from his computer games and off they went to bring along the little brown puppy. When they arrived, I was the first to run outside and to pick up the little guy and when we saw the little thing cuddling in my arms, me, the girls and my brother unanimously exclaimed: “Awww, he’s so cute”.

But the poor guy was shivering as he was separated from his brothers and he could barely walk on the floor. We knew we shouldn’t have brought him because as the minutes went by we all were getting attached to him but none of us were in a position to completely take care of the little pup. The girls went to our granny and told her they had brought a new visitor to the house and granny immediately knew what we were up to. Ten years ago, she had seen me and my brother do the exact same thing of bringing home stray puppies and trying to “look-after” them. But to tell the truth, it’s better not to bring any strays home, as they are used to survive outside (if they are lucky that is!) and locking them up in a garage only makes it worse for them and for everyone else in the house. They are after-all little babies (doggie version) and they cry a lot.

The poor pup was whining now and we tried pacifying him with some milk. I guess he was very hungry as he gulped down the entire cup. And before we knew it, he was running haphazardly inside the gate, searching for a spot to pee. And he did dirty the veranda gruesomely. All the more reason not to bring home stray puppies. Cleaning up the mess and all, I would have happily done that ten years ago, but now I’d rather run away!

So with a heavy heart in the end, we all took the puppy back from where it was taken from. And thank god his mother was there with her other pups. At least we got exempted from the guilt feeling of abandoning the puppy on its own.

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