Tamil Nadu CM names lioness cub 'Jaya'

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami today named a lioness cub at the zoo here as 'Jaya' and recalled late AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa's love for animals.

Also, he inaugurated enclosures for tigers and a children's park set up at a total cost of Rs 54 lakh at the Arignar Anna Zoological Park at Vandalur, about 40 km from here, an official press release said.

The zoo has a pride of 10 lionesses and seven lions, the release said.

The cub named Jaya was born on January 27, it said.

Jayalalithaa was an animal lover, who had taken measures for basic infrastructure in the zoo, the release quoted the Chief Minister as saying.

The zoo, home to 2,410 animals and 46 species of birds, would soon get a rhinoceros from the Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park in Patna, it said.

The new enclosures for tigers, too, were expected to accommodate four more of the big cats, in addition to the 26 present, the release said.

The Rs 27-lakh children's park was built keeping in mind the increasing number of the young visitors, it added.