Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Thursday released two white tiger cubs in the arena of white tiger enclosure in National Zoological Park here.
The Union minister has named the female cub as “Avani” meaning earth and the male cub as “Vyom” which means universe. The parentage of the cubs consists of father Vijay and mother Sita.
Tigress Sita delivered these cubs on August 24 last year. Now, these two cubs, one male and one female, are about eight months old. These cubs till now were kept in night shelter and in the side kraal during day time with mother. As the cubs need more area for their movement they are being released in the bigger area i.e. arena in visitor display.
In a tweet, Yadav said, “Flagged off the release of 8-month-old Avni and Vyom into their enclosure in the presence of school children and zoo staff. Visitors to the zoo will now be able to see and say hello to Avni and Vyom.”
Yadav also interacted with school children to promote Mission LIFE and shared the importance of sustainable way of living and natural resource conservation.
A group of about 100 students and staff from various schools of New Delhi attended the programme and showed enthusiasm to promote wildlife conservation. After the release of white tiger cubs, a zoo walk was conducted for the school students.
Director General of Forest & Special Secretary, MOEF&CC Chandra Prakash Goyal, ADG (Forest Conservation) Satya Prakash Yadav, ADG (Wildlife) Bivash Ranjan, Member Secretary, Central Zoo Authority, Dr. Sanjay Kumar Shukla ,IG Wildlife Rohit Tiwari and officials from MOEFCC were also present on the occasion.