Prabhas roaming in Hyderabad Zoo

June 15, 2022

Meet Prabhas, the Royal Bengal Tiger that’s become Hyderabad Zoo’s new viral sensation

On Sunday, the Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad was flooded with visitors looking for a Royal Bengal Tiger named Prabhas. It was all thanks to a picture of a signage that read: ‘Royal Bengal Tiger (Prabhas)’ which went viral on social media on Saturday.

Zoo authorities, however, tell us that the tiger has been around for eight years, and has only come to the people’s attention after a picture of its name went viral on social media. “We were surprised to see so many visitors come and enquire about Prabhas (the tiger) today. Lots of kids were seen enquiring about the ‘Bahubali Tiger’. This tiger was born at our zoo eight years ago and one of the curators named it Prabhas. It’s only now that it’s gotten attention as somebody posted it on social media,” reveals a senior officer at Nehru Zoological Park, Hyderabad.

Interestingly, naming animals after people from real life is not a new phenomenon, the officer explains. “We also have a tiger named after popular Tamil heartthrob Suriya. Two years ago, when a white tiger was born, we named it after late Col Santosh Babu, the commanding officer of the 16 Bihar Regiment, who was martyred during the India-China conflict. From time to time we give unique names to the animals here. For years they go unnoticed and when they go viral on social media, people start enquiring about them,” the official explains.

The tiger, Prabhas, was adopted by Hyderabad-based Rachana Chowdary, an animal lover, around six months ago. “Every now and then, whenever something like this goes viral on social media, we see a lot of interest being shown by the public. The tiger has had a busy day today with lots of visitors. We hope to see more genuine interest from people rather than occasional enquiries whenever something goes viral on social media,” the official adds.