Nagpur, Nov 20 (PTI) A five-and-half-year-old tiger named Rajkumar has been shifted from Nagpur's Gorewada rescue centre to the international zoo nearby which is expected to be thrown open to visitors in December or early January, officials said on Friday.

Rajkumar, captured from Bhandara district in the state and brought to the rescue centre three years ago after it started coming close to villages in the area, will be the upcoming international zoo's first big cat attraction, they said.

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Confirming the development, Gorewada project manager Pramod Panchbhai told PTI the tiger was shifted after permission was received from the Central Zoo Authority in New Delhi.

"The Indian safari of the Gorewada International Zoo will be opened to the public in the last week of December or first week of January. One tigress, seven leopards and six sloth bears will also be shifted before the opening of the zoo," Panchbhai said.

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(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)