World Tiger Day: Story of tigress Kanan who 'jumped from freedom to captivity' for love

July 29 is considered an important day in history as it is marked as the Global Tiger Day. The history of this day dates back to the year 2010 when it was created at the St. Petersburg Tiger Summit. At the beginning of the 20th century, the number of tigers dropped exponentially across the globe. However, for the first time in world history, their numbers are on a rise now. 

The 'iconic love story' 

On the occasion of International Tiger Day 2020, IFS official Sandeep Tripathi took to twitter and shared the story of tigress Kanan which left his followers amazed. In the year 1967, Kanan, lured by a male tiger, jumped into a zoo enclosure. The tigress sacrificed her freedom for the male tiger and joined him in his open-air enclosure at the Nandankanan Zoo in Bhubaneswar. 

Read: 'Tiger Corridors Need Immediate Attention,' Says Govt Report Even As Population Rises

Sandeep Tripathi put up a picture which was captioned as, “On this day would recapitulate the unique love of wild tigress “Kanan” jumping from freedom to the captivity of open-air enclosure of Zoo tiger “Pradeep” in the night of 4th January 1967 lured by love. Unique take in the Zoos of world”. Official Sandeep Tripathi, also shared an image of the Kanan Square. With this image, he continued the story of tigress Kanan.

Read: Assam Floods: 132 Animal Deaths Reported At Kaziranga National Park And Tiger Reserve

He said that tiger Pradeep would not accept the tigress as he had his own companion and Kanan being loyal to Pradeep, did not mate with any other tiger. He captioned the image as, "However, Pradeep would not accept her, as he has his own female companion “Sikha”. “Kanan” would celibate till her death on 21st July, 1978 without accepting any other mate. The “Kanan square” in Nandankanan immortalizes this iconic love story". He termed this story as the 'iconic love story' of the tigers. This image gathered 32 likes and 6 Retweets and comments. 

Read: 'India Has 70% Of World's Tigers; Conservation Has Improved': Javadekar On Tiger Day Eve

 

People took over to the comment section to express their views on the iconic love story of tigress Kanan. People commeted about how they take pride in the existence of tigers. There ere people who also criticised how animals should not be kept captive and blamed politicians for this.

 

Read: International Tiger Day 2020: History, Meaning, And Its Significance

Also Read: Good News: Kaziranga National Park Captures Tiger Breeding For The First Time In 15 Years

(Image Credits: Twitter/Sandeepifs)