M A I N   N E W S

11 tigers fall to mysterious disease

BHUBANESWAR, July 5 (PTI) — Ten royal bengal tigers, including seven rare white big cats, have died under mysterious circumstances at the famous Nandankanan zoo here. (However according to UNI, 11 tigers were killed). Three others are struggling for life baffling veterinarians who had given a drug to them to fight an infection on Monday.

All tigers were in the age group of six to 14. Seven more tigers are struggling for life. The zoo officials and experts are shocked and baffled over the death as most of them were reported to be healthy.

The cause of the tragedy has been identified as “trypanosomysis” which affects the brain of the animal, a Union Environment and Forest Ministry spokesman said.

At least four bodies were sent to the Veterinary Department of the Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) for a post-mortem examination.

The zoo authority confirmed the death of nine tigers but one more succumbed to illness inside the zoo this afternoon. The Nandankanan zoo had never witnessed such an epidemic in the tiger enclave which has the largest congregation of white tigers in the world.

Nandankanan zoo sources said on June 23 that one tiger succumbed to illness while three more died yesterday and six died by noon today.

The sources said the zoo authorities gave benaril injection to as many as 17 tigers on Monday last after the first casualty. Some of the tigers, however, developed symptoms of debility on the vine guard and started tottering.

Monday being the fasting day of the tigers, some zoo keepers advised the authorities not to administer the injection to the tigers. But fearing more casualty, the zoo authority administered the injection although no definite cause could be ascertained by the doctors.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik denied that berenil injection to protect against “trypanosomiasis” infection had caused the death.

However, wildlife lovers in the state were very critical of the manner in which the zoo authority handled the situation without first consulting the experts. When the situation went beyond control the professor of medicines of the veterinary college here was summoned to inspect the ailing tigers.

On hearing the news of the tigers’ death, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, State Forest Minister A.P. Singh, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest and other senior officials rushed to the Nandankanan zoo for an on the spot investigation.

The zoo authority, meanwhile, had sought the advice of the Indian Veterinary Research Institute and Madras University to tackle the situation as it apprehended more casualty.

Official sources said when tiger Debashis died on June 23 following suspected viral or bacterial infection, a team of doctors advised the zoo authority to administer vaccination to the other tigers as a precautionary measure.

Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) Saroj Kumar Pattnaik said a detailed action plan would be chalked out to prevent other tigers from dying after full analysis of the post-mortem report.

Our only concern was now to prevent further spread of the disease and find out its cause so that precaution could be taken to save the lives of other tigers, Dr Pattnaik said.

Wildlife lovers and experts have in the past raised hue and cry over the continuous inbreeding of white tigers and cautioned that such inbreeding might lead to a disastrous situation as they felt that successive breeding of the F1 type would lead to heavy casualty in the near future.