SAD NEWS: Because Akbar and Sita cannot be together, the VHP appeals the Calcutta High Court to allow the lions at the Siliguri Zoo to remain together.

In response to recent lodging decisions made by the Siliguri Safari Park, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad filed a case in the Calcutta High Court. The lions Sita and Akbar are kept in the same enclosure after being transported earlier this week from the Sepahijala Zoological

Park in Tripura.The plea was brought up before a bench of Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya, according to a LiveLaw article, and a hearing has been scheduled for February 20. According to the VHP, keeping “Akbar” and “Sita” together would be disrespectful to Hinduism. The group has demanded that the lion’s name be altered.

However, representatives of the forest department said that the lions had already been given this moniker prior to their arrival on February 13. The Siliguri Safari Park officials announced that they were waiting for the formal naming ceremony.

Before making their public debut, the newest members of the Bengal Safari Park must first complete a required one-month quarantine to guarantee their health. The lion couple was released on Wednesday in an enclosed area, and according to recent media reports, they had settled in nicely.

Sita is a 5-year-old lioness, and Akbar is a 7-year-old, fully grown male lion. According to a Statesman story that quotes forest officials, the two are already well acquainted, and park officials are optimistic about the outcome of their captive breeding endeavor.