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Two of the five lion cubs at Tata Steel Zoological Park in Jamshedpur on Saturday. Picture by Bhola Prasad
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Jamshedpur, Sept. 8: Tata Steel Zoological Park is gearing up to name its youngest inmates — five pure-bred African lion cubs and a Royal Bengal tiger cub.
Forms have been printed to allow visitors to participate in the naming process and they will be available from tomorrow to the beginning of Wildlife Week next month.
The forms mentioning the gender of the cubs and a column for names to be suggested were supposed to be delivered to the zoo today, but will now arrive tomorrow.
Visitors will have to mention their names, address, e-mail address and phone numbers as well.
“Visitors can collect the forms from the zoo’s ticket counter and drop them in the box at the entrance. Those suggesting the best names will be handed a family pass for visiting the zoo for a year,” said Seema Rani, the biologist and education officer who is co-ordinating the name game.
She added that apart from visitors, people residing in the steel city can also come forward to suggest names. “We are publishing advertisements in local dailies, inviting people to join us in suggesting names,” she said.
More forms will be printed in the days to come. “We have ordered 2,000 forms in the first lot,” Rani said.
According to zoo director Bipul Chakravarty, the name of the lions and the tiger will be decided through a lottery. “We’ll invite judges who’ll announce the best six names during Wildlife Week from October 1 to 7. We want every citizen of Jamshedpur to be involved in naming these endangered creatures,” he added.
Responsibility of naming the cubs has been given to the people for the first time.
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