M A I N   N E W S

Tigers’ death to be probed

NEW DELHI, July 6 (PTI, UNI) — The Centre today set up an experts team to investigate into the mysterious death of eleven Royal Bengal tigers at Nandankanan Biological Park in Bhubaneswar since Tuesday.

The team, headed by Central Zoo Authority Member Secretary P.R. Sinha, will assist the Orissa Government in finding facts pertaining to the healthcare of the animals and reasons that caused the death of the tigers, an official release said.

The experts team, constituted by Environment and Forests Minister T.R. Baalu on the request of Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, will also suggest measures to prevent such incidents in the future, the release said.

Eleven Royal Bengal tigers, including seven rare white big cats, died in the zoo since Tuesday while another three are struggling for life.

Mr Patnaik had yesterday said the state government would inquire into the death and if necessary the Central Zoo Authority would be asked to look into it.

The other members of the experts team are Pushpa Kumar, zoo expert, Hyderabad, S.K. Patnaik, Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), Orissa, Dr Ram Kumar, Member Secretary of the Veterinary Council of India, Dr Chakravorthy, Bannerghatta National Park, Karnataka and Dr Manoharan, Veterinary Officer, Vandalur Zoo, Chennai.

BHUBANESWAR: The shocking death of 11 tigers, including seven rare white tigers, in the world famous Nandankanan zoo near here was a result of “trypanosomysis”, a disease caused by a blood parasite protozoa transmitted by flies.

According to Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Dr S.K. Pattnaik, the post-mortem examination conducted by a team of doctors of the veterinary college of Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) here indicated that the tigers have died of “trypanosomysis” despite being injected with the prescribed berelin injection.

Meanwhile, the Calcutta Zoo Authority had rushed “anticyde”, a substitute of the berelin injection, to be administered to the affected tigers as a preventive measure to check further casualty inside the zoo.

The Nandankanan Zoo Director Dr B.C. Prusty said at least three tiger enclosures and the white tiger safari and feeding chamber were affected by the disease and all precaution has been taken to check the recurrence of the killer disease.

HYDERABAD: Fourteen Royal Bengal Tigers and two white tigers and other big cats, including lions, panthers, jaguars and pumas at the sprawling Nehru Zoological Park here have been vaccinated against tripanosomiasis following the death of 11 tigers at the Nandankanan zoo in Bhubaneswar.