Aurangabad: Tigress dies of kidney issues in Siddharth Garden zoo

AURANGABAD: The population of tigers at the Aurangabad-based Siddharth Garden zoo was reduced to nine on Wednesday after the death of six-and-a-half-year-old tigress called Kareena.
According to a zoo official, the big cat was suffering from kidney-related ailments and had fallen sick on Sunday. “She had stopped eating and two days later, when her condition did not improve, we moved her to the zoo-based veterinary hospital,” he said.
“Subsequently, we roped in senior doctors from the Government Veterinary Hospital for Kareena’s treatment. Civic body administrator Astik Kumar Pandey also visited the zoo to check on the big cat’s health,” he added.
Not taking any chances amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the zoo authorities have collected the throat swab samples of the tigress and sent them for testing.
An official privy to the overall monitoring of the big cat’s health said, “Watching the condition of the tigress deteriorate, even experts from the forest department as well as those from Parbhani-based government veterinary college were roped in.”
He added, “The experts reached Aurangabad on Tuesday evening and started the treatment. Kareena, however, succumbed at around 5.20 am on Wednesday. The viscera samples were collected and have been sent to Khadkeshwar-based Regional Disease Investigation Lab (RDIL) for analysis.”