Tiger Reserves

Ludhiana: The Tiger Safari is running short of tigers, much to the chagrin of zoo authorities, who have written to the wildlife department asking them arrange the big cats from tiger reserves across the country.
That's not all. The Safari is also short of crocodiles, ghadiyals and leopards, among other wild animals.
Safari in-charge Avtar Singh said, "We wrote to the chief wildlife warden (CWW) office some time ago and are in continuous correspondence with them. We requested a pair of tigers but it will be good if we get two pairs". He said they have also asked for crocodile, chinkara, ghadiyal amd chausingha (a kind of deer).
Safari officials said the chief wildlife warden will ask Central Zoo Authority of India to arrange the animals requested. They also said they have asked for a young pair so that they can breed the couple and increase the number of tigers in the safari.
"As of now we have just two tigers Deepak (14.5 years old) and Money (15.5 years old) in the safari. Since they belong to different families, we cannot let them both out of enclosures simultaneously. Therefore, visitors have can see only one tiger. But many don't even get to see one. This reflects badly on the image of the safari, which is why we have been writing to the CWW to get a pair from the tiger reserves in India as they also face shortage of tigers at Chhatbir", said one of employees at Safari.
He recalled a time in 2005 when all the 11 tiger enclosures were occupied.
Visitors are also disenchanted with the present state of the safari. "The name of the wildlife area is Tiger Safari and they have just two tigers here. In a safari one normally sees a tiger in 10 to 15 minutes but here we often could not see a tiger even after half an hour. They need to increase the number of tigers so that visitors get the feel of being in a safari", said Parminder Singh, a visitor.
Chief wildlife warden, Punjab Dharinder Singh acknowledges the state of affairs. "Although we can allow only one tiger outside the enclosures or a mother and cub at a time, there is still the need for more tigers in the safari. As of now, we are in constant touch with other zoos for tigers as the two tigers there have grown old. Apart from that we expect litter from two pairs in Chhatbir. Hopefully, they will deliver around 10 cubs. We can send some of them to the Tiger Safari in Ludhiana," he said.
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