Mumbai: Byculla Zoo likely to get two Royal Bengal tigers from Nagpur after recent deaths

Mumbai`s Byculla Zoo likely to ger two tigers. (File pic)

After the death of two of Veermata Jijabai Bhosle Botanical Park and Zoo's (Byculla Zoo) four tigers within the past six months, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is likely to get two more Royal Bengal tigers for the zoo from Nagpur's Gorewada International Zoo.

The civic body wrote to Gorewada Zoo requesting a pair of tigers for the Byculla Zoo and received Gorewada Zoo's consent. A proposal has now been sent to the Central Zoo Authority for approval of the transfer.

A senior civic official said, "We asked the Gorewada zoo for a pair of tigers, and they've given their consent. However, the transfer is subject to approval from the Central Zoo Authority, and this may take some time. We have proposed to exchange them for a few birds."

Byculla zoo at present has two tigers

Karishma and her cub Jay. Byculla Zoo's nine-year-old male Royal Bengal Tiger named Shakti died on November 17, 2025, from respiratory failure due to pneumonia. His cub, a three-year-old male Royal Bengal Tiger named Rudra, died on October 29, 2025.

Rudra was the cub born to Shakti and Karishma. On February 12, 2020, the pair of Royal Bengal tigers Shakti (male) and Karishma (female) were brought to the Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Botanical Garden and Zoo in Byculla from the Siddhartha Garden and Zoo in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.