Bengal white tiger dies at age of 21

Bahadurpura: A Royal Bengal Tiger, a white male named Vinay, born in Nehru Zoological Park and aged about 21 years and 6 months, died on August 5, disclosed the zoo authorities on Tuesday.

Born to father Murugan and mother Karuna, Vinay was suffering from old age-related complications and was lame since May 2018. The animal was kept in the off-display facility for the past 5 years due to old age.

According to officials, it was under intensive care at Summer House. The veterinary team of zoo and expert Dr M Navin Kumar, Consultant & DD (Retd.), had treated the tiger and opined that it died of old age complications. It was under lateral recumbence followed by fluid therapy in the last few days. On August 5 at 10:45 pm, while undergoing treatment the animal breathed its last as all efforts made by the veterinary team failed.

The post-mortem was conducted by veterinary doctors Dr M Laxman, Professor and Head, Dept of Pathology, College of Veterinary Science, Rajendranagar, Dr Sadanand Sonkatte, Principal Scientist, CCMB, Lacones, Hyderabad and Dr S A Asadullah, VAS.

As per the post-mortem lesions, the cause of death was due to Senility –"ASPHEXIA" (Senility induced Asphexia) and all samples were collected and sent to VBRI, Shantinagar, Hyderabad and Veterinary College, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad for detailed investigation.