15-year-old tigress dies after fight

Mangaluru: In a tragic incident reported from the Pilikula Biological Park, tigress Nethravati,15, breathed her last at 9.45am on Wednesday.
HJ Bhandary, director of Pilikula Biological Park, stated that on June 4, Nethravati sustained injuries because of a fight with six-year-old male tiger Reva. Nethravati and Reva were born at the park.
It is learnt that the male tiger was in heat and had approached Nethravati, who refused his advance and pawed him. Upset over this, Reva got into a fight, and Nethravati sustained injuries. The staff present there separated the two animals, and the veterinarians of the park treated her injuries.
Since she started drinking water and consuming food, the staff were hopeful that she was recovering well, as the injuries were superficial. Experts suspect that the tigeress may have died due to cardiac arrest. Veterinarians from outside the park have arrived to conduct a postmortem, to ascertain the cause of death.
Bhandary said that the viscera has been sent to the Institute of Animal Health and Veterinary Biologicals, Bengaluru. The Pilikula Biological Park has eight tigers, including four females. Reva sustained minor injuries and is out of danger.