Mangaluru: Pilikula Biological Park lost its star attraction – Vikram – a 21-year-old Royal Bengal tiger to age related illness on Vijayadasami day. Vikram was among the first lot of big cats to arrive at this park managed by Dr Shivarama Karantha Pilikula Nisargadhama from the Tyavarekoppa Lion and Tiger Safari in Shivamogga in 2003 as a four-year-old cub then. In its death, it had outlived the average life expectancy for tigers in captivity.
H Jayaprakash Bhandary, director of the Park, told TOI that while tigers on an average live for 16 to 18-years, Vikram, the third tiger to die at the park lived for 21-years. Raja. 20 and Sharavathi, 22, other two big cats to pre-decease Vikram also lived for two-decades and more. All three tigers succumbed to age-related illness. The loss of Vikram is painful in that it was among the most visible and spotted Tiger in the enclosure, Bhandary said.
Vikram ‘fathered’ Kadamba, Krishna, Vinaya, Oliver, Akshaya, Manju, Amar, Akar, Anthony and Nisha in its life-span. These cubs, all as sturdy and big as Vikram have found new homes in biological parks across India - in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and even nearby Mysuru zoo. “It was sad to see this big cat struggle with age related illness including poor eyesight, loss of appetite and even failed kidney,” the director said.
Confined to the treatment room for the past two months, Vikram was under treatment with drips and supplements given. “It stopped eating food in the past seven days, and this is when the park staff sensed its end,” the director said. Post mortem revealed failure of the kidney for which it was being treated. The tiger was cremated and tissue samples sent to Institute of Animal Health and Veterinary Biologicals, Bengaluru as per Central Zoo Authority norms.
The mortality of tigers at the Pilikula Biological Park is the least across various other biological parks in India, he said. In the wild and in their natural enviroment, tigers usually live up to 15 years, Bhandary noted.