Bhubaneswar, May 10: Bahubali, the omnipotent hero of the eponymous film currently smashing all box office records, has inspired the Nandankanan Zoological Park authorities to name a tiger cub after him.
Born to Megha and Nandan, the latter being a wild tiger that had strayed into the zoo in April 2013, the cub was christened Bahubali today after more than 1,200 visitors had suggested it. Six other tiger cubs, which had been born at the zoo last year along with Bahubali, also got their names today.
A zoo official said that more than 2,200 visitors had dropped the names in boxes kept in front of the tiger enclosures between 8.30am and 5.30pm yesterday. "More than 58 per cent of visitors opted for the name "Bahubali" for the cub," said deputy director of the zoo, Jayant Dash.
Explaining the reason behind naming the cub after Bahubali, Dash said that as Bahubali was an indomitable and powerful character, the same potential lies in this cub as well, because its father Nandan was a wild one. Nandan had strayed into the zoo from the nearby Chandaka-Dampara sanctuary. It had escaped in June 2013 by scaling an 18-feet-high fence. The zoo authorities managed to facilitate its re-entry to the zoo in the same month.
The cub that Megha gave birth to in April last year was has been named Kundan. Five other cubs, all one-year-old like Baahubali and Kundan, have been named Sahil, Adyasa, Vicky, Chinu and Mousumi by visitors.
The zoo official said the practice of naming tiger cubs had started a decade ago and the privilege was reserved for schoolchildren. But this year, zoo visitors were also involved in the exercise.
"One of the cubs Vicky is a melanistic tiger and was born to white tigress Sneha. The cub will be put for public display shortly," said Dash. At present, the zoo has 27 tigers, including seven white tigers.
Zoo officials hope that Bahubali will definitely draw more tourists to his enclosure.
"The cub is active and healthy. We hope that it will attract large number of visitors. All the seven cubs are healthy and will be centre of attraction in near future," said a zoo official.
