Tripura’s Sepahijala Zoo and Wildlife Sanctuary has witnessed its first healthy tiger births with a tigress delivering three cubs, officials said.
“A tigress gave birth to three cubs in the enclosure last week. This happened for the first time in the Sepahijala zoo’s history since it was set up in 1972. The mother and the cubs are doing fine,” a zoo official told .
With these three cubs, the number of tigers at the zoo rose to five. As precautionary measures, the male tiger has been shifted to another enclosure and closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras have been installed in and around the enclosure to monitor the tigress and the cubs.
The zoo had witnessed a few tiger births in the past but the cubs were learnt to have been stillborn.
The tigress, 3.5-4 years old, came to the zoo from West Bengal along with a tiger as part of an exchange programme.
The zoo official said the tigress was being provided with nutritious and balanced food–fresh meat and healthy soups–so that the cubs get sufficient milk from their mother.
No visitors are allowed to move near the enclosure to keep the tigress and the cubs away from any disturbance and to enhance the cubs’ survival chances in their early days, said the official.
Expressing happiness at the birth of the three tiger cubs, Forest and Environment Minister Animesh Debbarma said he would visit the zoo soon.
Covering an area of about 18.53 sq km in Sepahijala district, the zoo and wildlife sanctuary is one of the key tourist destinations in the state. Over 1.70 lakh tourists from Tripura and other states visited the zoo in 2024-25, said an official.
