12-year-old Royal Bengal tiger dies after long cancer battle at Sanjay Gandhi National Park

MUMBAI: Yash, a 12-year-old Royal Bengal tiger at Sanjay Gandhi National Park, died on Tuesday after fighting a long battle against cancer. Yash had been diagnosed with an extremely rare form of cancer called Embyronal Rhabdomyosarcoma (ERMS), which spreads through the body's muscles and leads to their progressive deterioration.
"There is no scientific documentation of a tiger with this type of cancer in India or abroad," said Dr. Shailesh Pethe, a veterinary officer at Sanjay Gandhi National Park.
Yash had been operated on twice in the last year for tumors on his face - in August 2018 and in March 2019. The surgeries, performed by a team of veterinarians from the Bombay Veterinary Hospital (BVH), were done to remove the benign growths on the tiger's lower lip that were causing him a lot of discomfort. Dr Chandrakant Wakankar, retired professor of surgery at BVH, and Dr R V Gaikwad, superintendent at BVH, were instrumental in providing care to the suffering animal.
However, after his last operation, he had lost a considerable amount of body weight. He finally succumbed to cancer related complications, such as loss of skeletal muscle mass (Cachexia) and multi-organ failure.
Skin and tissue samples have been collected, and a taxidermy will be done in a few months by taxidermist Dr Santosh Gaikwad. As per protocol, a post-morterm was conducted, after which his remains were cremated. Sanjay Gandhi National Park is now left with four female tigers and one male tiger. - Bhavani Srinivasan