Delhi zoo’s 15-year-old tiger B-2 dies

The Delhi zoo had three Royal Bengal tigers till a year ago. One of the three, eight-year-old Rama, died at the zoo in September last year due to kidney failure

B-2 (Bittu), a 15-year-old tiger at the Delhi zoo breathed his last on Thursday morning. The tiger was suffering from acute symptoms of chronic kidney disorder (CKD), Delhi zoo officials said in a statement.

A Royal Bengal Tiger at Delhi zoo in 2017. (HT Archive)

“The tiger had not been well for the past few months and breathed his last at 9.25am,” Delhi zoo director Ramesh Pandey said.

He added that the tiger had been brought from Van Vihar Zoo, Bhopal in 2014 and had completed his average life span.

“The best possible treatment was being given to the animal in consultation with experts from Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Izzatnagar, Bareilly. The animal was under intensive care for over 20 days. The autopsy of the animal will be conducted by a panel of veterinary doctors and viscera will be sent to lVRI for histo-pathological and other examinations to ascertaining the cause of death,” the director said.

Meanwhile, the Delhi zoo also got a Royal Bengal tigress, the first in six years, from the Kanpur zoo for conservation breeding under an animal exchange programme, said officials.

“The tigress, Barkha, is six years old. She will be paired with tiger Karan, who is also around six years old,” said a senior official, who did not wish to be named.

The zoo now has only one male Royal Bengal tiger (Karan). The Delhi zoo had three Royal Bengal tigers till a year ago. One of the three tigers, eight-year-old Rama, died at the zoo in September last year due to kidney failure. He had been brought from the Mysore zoo in 2014.

There are around 88 species of animals in the Delhi zoo at present and efforts are being made to increase the number up to 100, said officials.

The conservation breeding programme involves conserving a species by preventing imminent population collapse in the wild due to a large number of eliminative pressures such as habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, industrialisation, poaching, illegal trade and climate change among other factors.