Odisha’s Nandankanan Zoo Loses Another White Tigress

Bhubaneswar: ‘Sneha’, the 14-year-old white tigress at Nandankanan Zoological Park on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar city, died on Friday.

According to sources, the tigress fell ill on Thursday and was under medication. She was suffering from old age ailments and her condition worsened due to the intense heatwave prevailing in the region for the last few days. She was administered saline and medicines, but succumbed this morning.

Born to Royal Bengal tiger ‘Nishan’ and white tigress ‘Kusum’ on March 1, 2010, Sneha was the mother of eight tigers at the zoo.  She had delivered three cubs , Mousumi (female), Chinu (male) and rare melanistic Vicky (male), on August 5, 2016, and Luv and Kush during her second pregnancy. On March 28, 2021, she gave birth to three normal male tiger cubs, Rakesh, Rocky and Banshi, following mating with tiger Saif.

In October  2022, the zoo had lost 11-year-old white tigress Bijaya, who succumbed to a cancerous growth in her lungs. A five-year-old white male tiger named Subhranshu had also died due to liver-related aliments in October 2019.

According to the official website of Nandankanan, the zoo had 27 tigers, including seven white and three melanistic tigers till July 2023.