If you thought obesity was a problem plaguing only human beings, you may have to think again.
Officials in the Delhi Zoo have decided to return a 12-year-old jaguar to Kerala because "he is too fat to breed", reported The Indian Express.
Salman, the jaguar, had been borrowed from the Thiruvananthapuram Zoological Garden in October last year on a "breeding loan".
However, zoo officials told The Indian Express that Salman has shown "complete disinterest" in pairing up with Kalpana, the lone female jaguar in the National Zoological Park in Delhi.
In fact, they said, Salman has "reached out for its meals more keenly than for Kalpana."
"He was brought on a breeding loan but it has been over a year and Salman has shown no interest in mating. In fact, the female is seen trying to entice him but he lies in a corner and refuses to respond. He is too fat to breed," Delhi zoo curator Riaz Khan told the newspaper.
"Now we know for sure nothing is going to happen. So it is best that we send him back home. He was brought for a purpose and if he is not fulfilling that purpose then what is the point in keeping him here?” he added.
Salman's caretaker too feels that the jaguar is "lazy" and "just loves to eat".
However, the report adds that no scientific examination has been done to prove that Salman's obesity is the reason he does not show any interest in mating. And some zoo officials said that the other two jaguars in the zoo have also not been able to give a cub to Kalpana.
A wildlife expert in the Delhi zoo told the paper that the problem may not be obesity and that some animals don't show any interest in breeding after relocation.
Zoo officials did try to monitor and control Salman's weight and even released him into a larger enclosure, but to no avail.
This is an aggregated news report from The Indian Express.