12-year-old boy adopts Royal Bengal Tiger at Hyderabad's Nehru Zoological Park

The boy, identified as Chinmay Siddharth Shah, decided to spend his birthday budget to adopt the tiger, the zoo said in an official press release.

A 12-year-old boy of Class 7 has adopted a Royal Bengal Tiger in Hyderabad's Nehru Zoological Park on his birthday.

According to reports, the boy handed over a cheque of Rs 25,000 to a zoo official for the adoption of the tiger named 'Sankalp' for three months.

The boy, identified as Chinmay Siddharth Shah, decided to spend his birthday budget to adopt the tiger, the zoo said in an official press release.

Chinmay and his father Siddharth Kantilal Shah visited the office of the curator and handed over the cheque to A Nagamani, Deputy Curator Nehru Zoological Park, Hyderabad, reported ANI.

Interestingly, the tiger wasn't the only animal that was adopted on the day.

Two other students, Harvisha Jain and Vihaan Atul Jain adopted nocturnal animals. Three other sisters, Preksha, Priyal and Bhakti Nagda adopted small birds by handing over a cheque of Rs 5,000 each.

The Deputy Curator of Nehru Zoological Park thanked the students for their love and affection towards the conservation of wildlife by y adopting the tiger and birds in the zoo park.

She also appealed the citizens to come forward in more number and adopt animals at the Nehru Zoological Park, Hyderabad.

In July, an 11-year-old Bengal Tiger, named Kadamba, died at the Nehru Zoological Park. It became the second tiger to succumb to death due to ill-health since June 2020.

Talking more about Kadamba, it was brought to Nehru Zoological Park from Pilukula Biological Park in Mangalore six years back, on March 6, 2014. After the passing of Kadamba, the zoo is now left with 11 Royal Bengal tigers (yellow). Out of the 11, eight are adults whereas three are cubs. Among the eight adult tigers, three tigers -- Roja, 21, Soni, 20, and Aparna, 19 -- have also crossed their average lifespan, as informed by the officials.