Delhi zoo tiger cub deaths
The Delhi zoo tiger cub deaths underline once more the cruelty of captive breeding. Out of six cubs born to tigress Aditi on August 4, five are already dead. The latest died on August 23 despite intensive care at the zoo hospital.
Aditi’s first cub perished on August 8. Another died soon after, unable to feed. Two more succumbed on August 22, followed by the fifth the next day. Only one remains alive, hand-reared since August 15 and kept on milk. The largest litter in two decades has turned into a public tragedy, echoing 2005, when four of six cubs also died.
The zoo, designated a “conservation breeding” centre in 2010, proves once again that tiger survival cannot be engineered behind bars. Deaths mount, yet zoos persist in pretending that breeding equals conservation. It does not. These cubs are victims of a failed system, while real conservation happens in forests, not cages.
