'Sita worshipped by many, Akbar efficient ruler': High Court asks Bengal to rename lions

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday asked the West Bengal state government to rename the lion named 'Akbar' and the lioness named 'Sita', after the controversy erupted when both the wild cats were placed in the same enclosure at the Bengal Safari Park in Siliguri, reported Bar and Bench. The five-year-old Asiatic lioness was brought to the Siliguri zoo from Tripura’s Sepahijala Zoological Park While hearing a plea by Vishva Hindu Parishad over their objection to the naming of a lioness as Sita, a single-judge bench of Justice Saugata Bhattacharya urged the state to consider giving the two lions some other names to ensure that any controversy is put to rest. Meanwhile the state government told the high court that the naming of two lions was done by the Tripura Zoo authorities in 2016 and 2018 before the lions were transferred to West Bengal. The seven-year-old Asiatic lion and five-year-old Asiatic lioness were brought to the park from Tripura as a part of an animal exchange program along with other animals including two spectacled langurs, two leopard cats and four black bucks.