Tamil Nadu CM names lion cub after Jayalalithaa

Tamil Nadu got a new Jaya in place of the departed former Chief Minister Jaya. Chief Minister Edappady Palaniswamy created a sensation on Tuesday by naming a six-month-old female lion cub as Jaya, as a tribute to his mentor and icon late J Jayalalithaa.

In a special ceremony held on Tuesday at Arignar Anna Zoological Park, popularly known as Vandalur Zoo, the Chief Minister named the cub in a true Tamil style.  He declared the name of the cub as Jaya three times and announced that she would be known in future as Jaya. It resembled the naming ceremony of a new born child except the fact that the Chief Minister and officials stayed at a safe distance of five feet from the caged lion cub.

“She is shy to come out of the cage,” said a senior official of the zoo. Jaya, the cub was born on January 27, 2018 and the zoo officials were waiting for the convenience of the CM to make it to the sprawling zoological park for the naming ceremony. An eighteen month old lion cub was also named by the CM as Vishnu. He was born to lioness Nila and lion Siva, both dear to former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. After the function, the lion cub and all other animals were treated with sumptuous meal of fresh beef.

The official spokesman of the AAZP told The Pioneer that this was the only zoo in the country where wild animals are given names. “This has found to be helpful while feeding the animals and also during attending to their medical requirements. All these animals respond to the handlers when they call them by their names,” he said.

The spokesman remembered with mixed feelings the love and affection late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had for wild animals. “She used to be a frequent visitor to the zoo, unannounced and sans any publicity. She used to inquire about the health and welfare of all animals, particularly the lions and tigers,” he said reminding the naming ceremony of half-a-dozen Royal Bengal Tiger cubs presided over by her.

The wild ass of AAZP has been named Angel and she has been true to her names till now, said the spokesman. He also disclosed that the zoo has an animal adoption programme in which sponsors could adopt the animals. “The rates vary from animals to animals. We have a scheme in which  a tiger  or lion could be adopted at the rate of Rs 650 to Rs 1,000 per day. The sponsorship could be of six months to one year and could be extended based on mutually acceptable terms,”  said the spokesman.