CHANDIGARH, Oct 24 — Gloom descended on Chhat Bir Zoo today. It was 90 minutes after midnight when the white tiger cub, Julie, collapsed and died in the Deputy Director’s office which had been converted into a makeshift intensive care unit.

The three helpers, Sudhir, Jwala Singh and Purva Decka, who had been by the side of Julie for the past two weeks, were virtually in tears when The Tribune team reached the zoo this morning. They were lifting the special items that comprised the makeshift intensive care unit. Their eyes wet, they gave details about the last hours of Julie.

Julie had been put in the specially created ICU after tigress Galory abandoned her. Dr Vinod Sharma, zoo Director, got a special ICU set up in the office. The cub was bottlefed. The white cub accepted the milk. She was put under round-the-clock observation under three attendants. Veterinary compounder Ram Dev and Dr Vinod Sharma also took turns in bottle-feeding the treasured cub. Everything seemed to go well.

Even yesterday morning, the cub played with the attendants after being bottle-fed. All was well. Dr Vinod Sharma had a look at the cub at four. Everything was normal. A call from compounder Ram Dev at 5.45 p.m. set the alarm bells ringing. Another call after five minutes said Julie was having loose motions and her temperature had fallen by one degree.

Dr Sharma was back in the ICU. Julie’s temperature continued to fall and her breathing appeared to be laboured. She tried to move, but faltered. She had a feeling of giddiness. The extremities of Julie were turning cold. It appeared to be a case of hypothermia. Five drops of brandy in warm water and warm pads of cotton on the claws gave some relief to the white cub. Then started a dose of life-saving drugs. Julie was finally put on drip. Three hours later, Julie appeared to be getting back her body warmth. All this while she had been put on a hot water bottle. By 10 p.m. her body temperature came back to normal (101 degrees). She had her feed at 11 p.m. (25 ml). During this period of emergency in the makeshift ICU, the Deputy Director, Mr Gurpal Singh, the Range Officer, Mr Sukhdev Singh, and the Forester, Mr Jagpal Singh, joined Dr Sharma and Mr Ram Dev.

The white cub appeared to be gaining strength. Soon she was extending her legs and then dozed off. Dr Sharma, the compounder and the three attendants did not leave the ICU. It was midnight. Julie was fast asleep. The attendants looked at the little cub they had been fostering for the past two weeks. As they listened to Dr Sharma about the next day’s programme, there was a slight movement. And then, Julie let out a cry, she got up and then collapsed, never to get up again. Dr Sharma and his helpers tried their best to revive the little cub, but to no avail.