Telangana: 14-year-old white tiger dies of tumour in Nehru Zoological Park

A 14-year-old male white Tiger named Badri died of a tumour at the Nehru Zoological Park here on Friday.

According to the park officials, the tiger was being treated for inflammation on the right side of the sub-mandibular region below the ear on account of suspected tumour since the last month, however, his condition worsened a few days ago following which he died.

The animal was taken to the squeeze cage for proper treatment and given medication. Unfortunately, it took its last breath around 11:30 am. The post mortem was conducted today by veterinary experts team and it revealed multiple tumours as the possible cause of death, the officials said.

The tumour in the neck was found to be approximately 5 kg in weight.

After initial treatment, the animal was found to have a good appetite and was eating his food. However, on August 7, 2019, the swelling around his cheek increased and moved to the neck region.

It slashed the tiger's appetite and he started eating only small pieces of meat.

The animal was tranquilized on August 13 and treated by draining the tarry coloured blood but the swelling did not stop and moved towards the region behind the ear and neck as well, the officials said.

All samples collected during the post-mortem have been sent to Veterinary Biological Institute in Shantinagar, College of Veterinary Science in Rajendranagar and Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES), Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Attapur for detailed investigation.

This is the second Tiger death in the zoo after a white Royal Bengal tiger named Vinay died at the age of 21 years on August 5 earlier this month.