Nandankanan Loses Another Inmate, Royal Bengal Tiger This Time

Bhubaneswar: A few hours after the death of an ailing slot bear, Nandankanan Zoological Park lost another of its inmate, a 10-year-old Royal Bengal tiger, on Sunday.

The black cat, ‘Manish’, had been undergoing at the zoo hospital for the past six months under the direct supervision of experts from Veterinary College, OUAT, informed zoo authorities.

It was suffering from blood protozoan disease, a tick-borne infection.

“The tiger died during blood transfusion. The disease has no proven treatment. Despite all attempts, we failed to save it,” informed a senior zoo official.

With Manish’s death, the zoo is now left with 11 male and 13 female tigers.

Earlier in the day, a 30-year-old bear and a native to the Indian subcontinent died while undergoing treatment at veterinary department of the zoo. Following the death of Banki, the number of bear in the zoo fell to 14.

In August, two lions had died inside the safari of Nandankanan.

An eight-year-old African male lion, procured from Israel, died on August 10.

The lion was undergoing treatment at the zoo after it fell ill. It was then carried to the zoo hospital for administering saline. But, it suddenly died.

Another male African lion of the same age was found dead in the safari on August 29.

According to the zoo authorities, the animal had fallen seriously ill and died while treatment was continuing.

The postmortem report attributed the death to hemorrhagic gastroenteritis. The samples have been collected by Centre for Wildlife Health, College of Veterinary Science, for examination to find out the exact causative agents. As a precautionary measure, the authorities have strengthened regular disinfection in and around the lion enclosures and hourly observation of rest of the species.

The lion found dead was brought from Tel Aviv, Israel, in 2015.

Following its death, the zoo is now left with five male and seven female lions.