New Delhi: Will the country’s national animal be a cow instead of a tiger? When a BJP Lok Sabha MP sought to know whether the national animal would be replaced with a tiger, the government has clarified its stand on the issue. The BJP MP asked the government in Parliament – “will gaumata” (cow), an integral part of Indian culture, be recognised as a “national animal”?
Ajmer MP Bhagirath Chaudhary asked the government in a written question. Union Minister for Culture G. Assan Reddy said in response -’’On May 30, 2011, tigers and peacocks were re-notified as ‘national animals’ and ‘national birds’ respectively. Tigers and peacocks have been included in Schedule-I animals of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. So the government has no plans to declare the cow as a national animal. ’’
