Tiger 'Yash' dies of rare cancer

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'Yash', a 12-year-old Royal Bengal tiger diagnosed with extremely rare cancer, died at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) here, a senior official said Wednesday.

'Yash', who used to be the main attraction for tourists visiting the park, breathed his last at 5.45 pm on Tuesday, he said.

'Yash' was born at the SGNP in 2008 to tigress 'Basanti' and tiger 'Palash'.

Authorities had brought tigresses 'Bijli' and 'Mastani' from Pench in Madhya Pradesh for mating them with 'Yash' and another tiger 'Anand'.

'Yash' was diagnosed with embyronal type cancer 'rhaddomyosarcoma', as reported by pathologists from the Bombay Veterinary College, the official said.

'Yash' was operated twice for a growth on his face in the last one year, he said.

During post-operative treatment since March, 'Yash' had lost considerable amount of weight.

The tiger succumbed to the ailment-related complications like the loss of body condition and multi-organ failure, the official explained.

Postmortem of the carcass was conducted at pathology department of the Bombay Veterinary College.

Dr Santosh Gaikwad would conduct taxidermy on 'Yash', the official added.