15-year-old Royal Bengal Tiger dies of kidney ailment at Delhi zoo
NEW DELHI: A 15-year-old male Royal Bengal Tiger succumbed to a long-term kidney ailment at the Delhi Zoo on Thursday. According to zoo officials, the big cat was suffering from acute symptoms of Chronic Kidney Disorder and was under critical care for the past few days.
The post mortem of the animal will be conducted by a panel of veterinary doctors and viscera will be sent to the Indian Veterinary Research Institute for histo-pathological and other examinations to ascertaining the causes of death.
"The Tiger 'B-2' took his last breath today at 9.25 am. He was brought from Van Vihar Zoo, Bhopal in 2014 and had completed his average life span. Best possible treatment and personal care were given to the animal. National Zoological Park deeply mourns his departure," the zoo said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Delhi zoo also got a a Royal Bengal tigress, the first in six years, from the Kanpur zoo for breeding proposes under an animal exchange programme, officials said on Thursday. The tigress, Barkha, is six years old. She will form a pair with Karan, who is also aged around 6.
The Delhi zoo did not have a Royal Bengal tigress for six years despite it being a participating zoo for the Conservation Breeding Programme of Bengal Tiger, according to its Director Ramesh Pandey.
According to the Central Zoo Authority, the Conservation Breeding Programme is a science of conserving a species by preventing imminent population collapse in the wild due to a large number of eliminative pressures such as habitat loss.