2 white tigers succumb to old age in Orissa zoo

Pinaki had been suffering from the ailments associated with old age.

On Monday morning Shankar was found dead in his enclosure. Sources said Shankar had found in an unconscious state in the moat near the enclosure on September 19 and was then tranquilised and shifted to intensive care unit of the zoo hospital. The doctors of Orissa Veterinary College put him on cryogenic treatment, salines and antibiotics.

Prusty said Shankar was recovering and was taking food normally on Sunday but died of cardiacfailure. Later, the post-mortem revealed that Shankar was suffering from toximia which resulted in renal failure.

The affliction, Prusty said, was common with carnivores whose staple food was flesh.

Meanwhile, zoo authorities have decided to exempt entry fee for school children during the Wildlife Week from October 2 to 8. The zoo authorities said the park will remain closed on October 3 (Sunday), the day Bhubaneswar constituency goes to polls.

Now the white tiger population in the Nandankanan zoo has fallen to 24. The birth of the litter of white tigers from normal parents in 1981 in the zoo, which included Pinaki, had created history as it marked evolution of a new lineage of white tigers in the world independent of the Rewa lineage, Prusty said.