The Bengaluru Bannerghatta Biological Park has named a Royal Bengal tiger cub in the zoo after Assam teenage ace sprinter Hima Das who shot into fame bagging 5 gold medals in European races this month, an official said on Monday.
“We decided to honour Hima by naming a six-month-old Bengal tiger cub after her on the occasion of ‘International Tiger Day’ on Sunday,” the zoo’s Executive Director Vanashree Vipin Singh told the media.
The 19-year-old gold medallist in the 2018 Asian Games at Jakarta won again the 400-metre race at the Nove Mesto nad Metuji Grand Prix in Prague on July 20.
Prior to the 400-metre sprint, Hima, nicknamed ‘Dhing Express’, after the express train that runs between Guwahati and her hometown Dhing, was first in the 200 metre run at the Poznan Athletics Grand Prix on July 2, followed by another gold at the Kutno Athletics Meet on July 7 (both in Poland), at the Kladno Atheletics Meet in Czech Republic on July 13 and again at Tabor Athletics Meet in Poland on July 17.
According to the fourth tiger estimation of the Union Government and the National Tiger Conservation Authority, around 75 per cent (about 3,000) of the world’s tigers population is in the Indian sub-continent.
Known as India’s National Animal, the majestic feline is on display in the zoo safari along with its parents and siblings.
“To celebrate the day, we have released a group of 8 tigers, including three male and five female, including the little Hima Das,” Singh said.
Visitors were also enlightened about the big cats and ways to conserve them.
