A bundle of claws and fur

new delhi: the delhi zoo hospital is resonating with the playful sounds of three-month-old karan, a royal bengal tiger cub. he is being hand-reared by animal keepers and the zoo veterinarian after its mother, kunti, disowned the litter of three cubs she delivered in july. ``kunti gave birth to one female and two males but disowned them. while the female was dead at birth, the two males ^ karan and arjun ^ were placed in the care of the vet,'' zoo director b s bonal told the times of india. the zoo vet, dr n panneer selvam, said arjun was doing well but one day suddenly started vomiting and had diarrhoea. ``despite our best efforts, he died when he was about a month old,'' he said. not taking any chances with karan, the zoo authorities are keeping him in hospital till the end of this year. his daily diet includes 500 gramme boiled beef, 1 kg chicken and 500 ml milk. for exercise, he is let out in the park in front of the hospital. but no one was complaining about the ravaged banana trees that once stood there for whenever karan is there, he playfully munches the soft wood of those trees. ``after a few months we will keep karan in kunti's cage. they will have each other's company and by then he would be in a position to look after himself,'' bonal said. so, animal lovers can look forward to another attraction in the zoo next year.