COIMBATORE: A sub-adult tiger, identified as ANMT56, which underwent a surgery on its right upper jaw to remove a broken canine tooth, has recovered and is expected to be released into its enclosure again at Mandriimattam. The animal was housed in a cage at Manombolly near Valparai for treatment.
According to sources, E Vijayaragavan Forest Veterinary Surgeon of Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) is monitoring the big cat in consultation with assistant veterinary surgeon N Sridhar of Arignar Zoological Park, Vandalur.
“The animal has recovered 90% which is evident from its movement. It is chewing and biting the chicken, goat and beef that were fed to him. It is consuming close five to six kg like before. We have performed dental refilling the pulp cavity using biodentine material with collagen on September 19, For the first four days, we fed it liquid diet. In the last week, the animal is chewing bones,” said an official.
The veterinarians will take an X-ray before releasing it into the enclosure. “The cage is camouflaged on three sides and one side is exposed to the forest side. The animal roars whenever it spots deer, which shows it is developing wild instincts though it was in captivity for over a year,” the official added.