NEW DELHI: Delhi zoo's white tiger Vijay, who mauled a man last year, is the biggest attraction for visitors as zoo footfall jumps this year Ayear ago, a 20-year-old man was mauled by Delhi zoo's white tiger, Vijay, after he jumped inside the tiger's enclosure. The incident was witnessed live by scores and was later played on loop and widely shared, making Vijay a topic of discussion. Since then, no zoo visitor wants to miss out on seeing the 'killer' tiger and zoo officials say his popularity is the reason behind increased footfall.

Record footfall this year:

Owing to Vijay's popularity, the annual footfall at the Delhi zoo increased by two lakh this year. While in the last three years, the figures have been around 20,50,000, this year, the footfall increased by 10%. Recently-released figures ­ calculated on a Marchto-March basis ­ by the zoo authorities state that 22,36,850 people visited the zoo. The zoo also broke its old record of maximum people visiting the recreational facility in a day. While the previous record was of 23,000 on Gandhi Jayanti last year, this June, on Eid, the number was 30,000. The authorities are crediting Vijay for this jump in footfall. "After that incident, he has become a major attraction. Almost everybody who comes here, makes it a point to see him," says Riaz Ahmad Khan, the Delhi zoo curator.

Killer but not the villain:

As Vijay wallows in the pool of water, wisecracks like 'Dekho kaisa don sa leta hua hai', 'Koi isko shampoo kar do' and 'where is his mineral water bottle?' keep coming. If one spends some time near Vijay's enclosure, the flurry of comments about him suggests that nobody holds him ac countable for what happened on that fateful day. "Uski koi galti naa thi, woh ladka gaya tha stunt maarne," said Jay Narayan, a visitor from Rewari, in his Haryanvi accent. "There have been incidents of people jumping into zoo enclosures. These people are usually alcoholics or mentally-disturbed. Some want to prove their courage by entering the enclosures which have big cats," says Riaz.

People can be seen taking photos of the tiger and some immediately send it to their friends on WhatsApp or through mails."After the incident, I came here to take pictures of the tiger. I sent the pictures to my friends and cousins in other states, telling them that this is the beast that killed that guy ," said Ashutosh, an amateur photographer. Even foreign tourists come to see the tiger. "We are here in Delhi for two days. When we were doing our research, we got to know about the tiger that had killed someone last year. Call it sadistic, but we came here solely to see the tiger," said Miriam Stuart, a visitor from Malta, who came with his friend.

Security beefed up after the incident:

With so many visitors, the risk of another untoward incident looms large, but the authorities are being more careful. "We have employed more people to manage the crowd, especially near the enclosures where big animals are kept. We don't relax our rules and scold anyone who tries to get a closer look of the animals," a security official says.

The not-so-angry young tiger likes to make love:

Not very long ago, we heard about Vishal, the tiger in Alipore zoo in Kolkata who didn't want to mate with his partner and even aphrodisiac or libido stimulant has not been successful.Unlike him, eight-year-old Vijay is very good in bed er ... in the breeding programme, and has already fathered more than ten cubs. This year, he became the proud daddy of four cubs with Kalpana being their mother. "He has a wonderful temperament and is the best breeder among all tigers," said Riyaz. The cubs are too young for display and are being kept under observation.