A white tiger housed at the Nehru Zoological Park, named Vinay, has breathed its last on August 5 night, of problems related to senility.

The male Royal Bengal Tiger was born in the zoo, and was aged 21 years and six months. He suffered from lameness caused by age for over a year, and was kept off display for the past five years, a statement from the zoo said.

Under intensive care at the Summer House for the last three days, he was being treated by a veterinary team of the zoo. Post-mortem conducted by experts from College of Veterinary Science, Rajendranagar, LaCONES, CCMB, and zoo’s own, concluded that the death was due to “senility-induced asphyxia”. Samples have been collected and sent to the Veterinary Biological and Research Institute and College of Veterinary Science for further investigations.