Royal Bengal tiger dies at SGNP

The tiger, a star attraction of SGNP’s tiger safari, was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in early July and was also suffering from a kidney ailment, and died on Thursday.

Anand, a 10-year-old male captive Royal Bengal tiger, died at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) on Thursday. The tiger, a star attraction of SGNP’s tiger safari, was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in early July and was also suffering from a kidney ailment. SGNP is now home to five Royal Bengal tigers – four females and a male – one of whom is the 20-year-old Basanti who is Anand’s mother.

Anand, the 10-year-old captive Royal Bengal tiger, was consigned to flames after the post-mortem on Thursday.

Anand, born and bred in SGNP, died at 5am on Thursday morning. “The post mortem by a team of veterinarians revealed that he died due to cancer-related complications such as progressive cachexia [loss of body condition] and multi organ failure,” said Vijay Barabde, range forest officer and superintendent of the lion and tiger safari at SGNP.

In July, Anand had been diagnosed with a rare form of malignant cancer and showed symptoms similar to those exhibited by his brother Yash, who died in May 2019 due to a soft tissue muscular tumour known as rhabdomyosarcoma. Barabde said Anand had stopped eating solid food 10 days ago. “He had become weak and his diet for the last 10 days was restricted to chicken soup. The kidney ailment had also worsened. The most recent blood test results showed that his serum creatinine count was 40, while 5-6 is considered normal for tigers. Anand’s death is a big loss,” said Barabde.

SGNP’s senior veterinarian Dr. Shailesh Pethe said, “Anand had been diagnosed with an extremely rare form of malignant cancer. Prima facie it looks like rhabdomyosarcoma, but it is yet to be confirmed. Last year, we had observed similar legions for Yash. Anand’s samples were taken for histopathological examination. Preliminary assessment showed it was cancer, but since it is an extremely rare form, it will take some time to identify the exact subtype.”

Mumbai Veterinary College (MVC) said owing to shortage of staff due to the outbreak of Covid-19, it would take at least four to five days for the results to come in.

Meanwhile, the tiger’s remains were consigned to flames after the post mortem on Thursday.

In June, veterinarians at SGNP had identified a lump in Anand’s jaw and an unusual growth on the left side of his lower lip. “Anand’s blood test had revealed he was suffering from a chronic renal disease while a malignant tumour was identified after a biopsy was conducted by MVC authorities,” said Dr. Pethe.

The average lifespan of tigers in captivity is between 14 and 16 years, said Dr. Pethe.

At present, SGNP is home to five Royal Bengal tigers, including four females and a male. Sultan, who is four-and-a-half-years-old and the lone male Royal Bengal tiger, was brought to SGNP from Gorewada rescue centre in Nagpur last December. In August 2019, twin Royal Bengal tigresses were brought to SGNP from Pench Tiger Reserve in Nagpur. Park officials christened them Bijlee and Mastani. The other female tigers are Laxmi (10) and Basanti (20), who has mothered four cubs (Yash, Anand, Laxmi and Puja). “Basanti has become old and infirm. She is suffering from chronic knee and leg pain, which has largely restricted her movement,” said Barabde. Following Anand’s death, Laxmi is the only one surviving of Basanti’s litter.