Zeeshan Jawed 
 
 
 
 KOLKATA: His intimidating roar terrifies humans but his partner's mating call breaks him into a cold sweat. Officials at Alipore zoo are faced with a rather strange situation where one of their young male tigers is showing little or no interest in mating despite several not-so-subtle hints dropped by his female partner. No amount of aphrodisiac or libido stimulant has been successful in making him, er, rise to the occasion. Vishal and Rupa are the young white tiger couple in this much-anticipated captive breeding project. Alipore zoo has five tigresses and only three tigers. Vishal and Rupa, aged 10 and eight, were selected for their youth and vigour after the State Zoo Authority gave permission to resume captive breeding last year. But Vishal's performance — or the lack of it — has come as a major downer. "We chose Vishal because he is the youngest and physically the most well-built among the male tigers. But we cannot understand what happens to him when he sees Rupa. He runs away with his tail between his legs," said Dayanarayan Banerjee, senior veterinary officer at the zoo. Medical officers and zoo keepers who have been closely monitoring the behaviour of the tiger and the tigress, said that when Rupa enters her oestrus cycle — a period of "heat" when she is sexually receptive and makes advances — Vishal shows zero interest. "Once Rupa enters her oestrus cycle, she makes mating calls and tries to get close to Vishal. She scratches his back with her nails, tries to make physical contact and even chases him. But Vishal runs in the opposite direction," said Banerjee. After noticing his indifference, medical officers administered vitamins A and E last year to enhance Vishal's sexual appetite. When that did not get his blood thumping, the doctors administered a libido enhancer but even that did not lift Vishal's mood. "None of it worked. Vishal kept snubbing Rupa's advances," said a zoo official. Perplexed, zoo authorities consulted experienced veterinary officers and specialists who attributed his demeanour to shyness due to captivity and not necessarily to lack of virility. "Vishal has grown up in captivity due to which he has never interacted with the opposite sex earlier. He is shy and often unable to understand the biological signals his body is giving him," said a big cat specialist in the forest and wildlife department. The breeding of tigers in the zoo is very important for several reasons, say veterinary officers. "Mating is a biological need of any living being and it is required to stay healthy. Second, the big cats in the zoo are not getting any younger. If we want a younger generation of tigers here in the years to come, we have to work on it right now," said Banerjee. The last time a tiger cub was bred in the zoo was more than a decade ago. Though several big cats were young at that time and ready to procreate, senior officials in the wildlife department were not willing to take any risk lest the tigers injure each other during the mating. When some officials have taken the initiative now, the age and the attitude of the tigers does not permit that. "Tigers can be ferocious during mating. They may harm their partner if they get over excited or angry about something. Most of the directors over the last decade did not want to take any risk and kept postponing the mating process," said a senior official in the department. The breeding of tigers has become a challenge for zoo officials who have otherwise achieved major successes with giraffes, zebras, macaws and barking deer. "We have a good mix of these animals where the young ones are regularly spawning. In case of lions and tigers we do not have the same advantage because most of them are past their prime," said Kanai Lal Ghosh, director of Alipore zoo. The zoo authorities aren't about to give up on Vishal yet — maybe a much younger tigress will get his mojo working. Officials are toying with the idea of setting up Vishal with the much nubile Rani. "She is young and full of vigour. We are hoping she will succeed in enticing Vishal," said a veterinary officer. The question is will Vishal rise to the occasion this time? ||||| Image caption Kolkata zoo has three white tigers, including two females 
 
 Officials at the Alipore zoo in the Indian city of Kolkata (Calcutta) say their attempts to mate a young tiger have been unsuccessful with the big cat showing little interest in mating. 
 
 Vishal, the 10-year-old white tiger, has so far spurned the advances of tigress Rupa, living in the adjoining enclosure, an official told the BBC. 
 
 Libido enhancers have also failed to spur him into action, he said. 
 
 Experts blame his "shyness" on the fact that Vishal has been bred in captivity. 
 
 "For the past six months we've been trying to mate Vishal," Dayanarayan Banerjee, who retired as the senior veterinary officer at the zoo and is now working as a veterinary consultant there, told the BBC. 
 
 "We have de-wormed him to improve his overall health. We have given him libido enhancers, including vitamin D, A and E. But he is shy and no libido has been noticed in him," he said. 
 
 Mr Banerjee says this is the first time an attempt has been made to mate Vishal - the only male in the breeding age in the zoo - but perhaps he is a bit too old to mate. 
 
 "The most suitable age for a tiger to mate is when he is five-six years old. Seven-eight-year-olds also succeed. But beyond the age of 10 years, it is very difficult." 
 
 Mr Banerjee said when Vishal was introduced to eight-year-old Rupa, he was "friendly enough" and "displayed no sign of hostility", but that's where the contact ended. 
 
 "Rupa was willing, but Vishal was reluctant," he added. 
 
 Mr Banerjee says he is "not sure Vishal will deliver" but zoo authorities are not yet giving up on the exercise. 
 
 "We are considering introducing him to Rani, she is a Bengal tigress, and she has a very beautiful face. But she is in an enclosure that's far away from Vishal's and we are awaiting a decision on whether we can move her to a nearby enclosure."
– Male tigers are a lot like human men when it comes to sex. They're shy and awkward about their bodies if they haven't spent a lot of time around female tigers. They take libido enhancers when they get older. And, if a partner their own age isn't doing it for them, they consider trading them in for a younger, prettier tiger. BBC News reports India's Alipore zoo is having a difficult time getting its 10-year-old white tiger Vishal to mate. The zoo has tried vitamins and even de-worming him; nothing seems to be working. Experts are blaming the fact that Vishal was born in captivity, meaning he doesn't have much experience with females and might not understand the biological signals his body is sending, according to the Times of India. Plus, Vishal is at the outer limits of breeding age for tigers. This is apparently frustrating to Rupa, a female white tiger the zoo has assigned to breed with Vishal. While in heat, Rupa will chase, touch, and scratch Vishal, but he "runs away with his tail between his legs," a veterinary consultant tells the Times. Zoo staff have been trying to mate the two tigers for six months, and it's important they succeed because the zoo's tiger population is getting older and hasn't had a birth in more than a decade. Now, staff are considering trying Vishal out with a much younger Bengal tiger named Rani, who is described as having "a very beautiful face," the BBC reports. Ouch, Rupa.