Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 27 (IANS): Thanks to French writer Claire le Michel, George, a Bengal Tiger who passed away last year has emerged as a rage in the European social media and has a game based on him.

By now George has become part of the French curriculum too and is titled 'The Story of George'.

Claire, a writer and dancer, came to the city in 2019 for a writing residency assignment and was attached to the Alliance Francaise de Trivandrum and her topic of assignment was "connect between nature and animals".

A chance meeting with the Trivandrum Zoo veterinarian Jacob Alexander appeared to be a turning point for George whom Claire decided to write about.

After going back, Claire's write up through a story about George was first published in a French blog, later aired in the radio and finally found its way into French curriculum and now has become hugely popular in the European social media and the new game has become even more popular.

Incidentally, in 2015, the tiger was brought from Wayanad, when it started entering human settlements.

Alexander, the Zoo vet, recalls that his condition was very bad and soon all the care was provided to him. The tiger started to recover and was named George.

"When the tiger was brought then, none expected it to survive, but we did our best and revived him well. When he was brought to us in 2015, he was around 16 years and when he passed away in the last week of 2021 December, he was 22 years and there was not a single teeth. It was a real touching experience we all had with George and we are all happy that he is again in the news," said Alexander, the Zoo vet who has been here for the past 11 years.

"The reason why George has suddenly become a hit in the European social media is a 'game' based on him.

Claire is expected to arrive here and the 'game' is being planned to go global," added Alexander.