Rebecca, white tigress in Sanjay Gandhi National Park, counts her final days

Should Rebecca be put down or not? At the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), Borivli, that's the big debate between veterinarians and animal lovers.

The lone white tigress at the park is already 19 years old. The normal lifespan of a tiger in captivity is 15-18 years. She has been suffering from melanoma (cancer) and has undergone four surgeries since February. Her health has been severely deteriorating for the past few days and Rebecca has now developed another tumour, almost the size of a coconut in her neck. Her eyes and necks are swollen and there are wounds, said Dr Sanjiv Pinjarkar, wildlife veterinarian officer at SGNP. “It must be very painful,” he said.

Though a team of veterinarians is treating her, several animal-right activists, as well as senior vets, believe that the best thing would be to put her to sleep in a dignified manner than let her go through the pain and trauma and undergo more surgeries.

Rebecca underwent her fourth surgery on September 8, and has already undergone six sessions of chemotherapy.

“On Friday, we were ready to carry out yet another surgery to remove the tumour, but seeing her weak condition, we realised that she won't be able to take it. So, we cleaned her wounds and even gave her a bath to make her feel comfortable. We also gave her pain killers,” said senior surgeon Dr Chandrakant Wakankar, who is part of the team treating Rebecca.

In fact, Wakankar admitted that her condition is going from bad to worse, and it could only be a matter of days, unless there is some miracle.

“She has shown such a strong spirit and is probably the only tigress to survive cancer for around nine months. On Friday, I was touched to see the way animal-keepers gave her a bath and cleaned her. To be honest, it was a very emotional moment for all of us. Somewhere, we all felt that she seems to have given up now,” said Wakankar. He, however, said that they will continue her treatment.

Meanwhile, Dr Pinjarkar said: “On Friday, the entire afternoon was spent tending to Rebecca. She has not been eating anything for almost two to three days now, which has made her weak.”

A senior vet from Maharashtra said: “It's a tiger, and, hence, it's not easy to obtain permissions to put it down as a committee has to be formed by the state chief wildlife warden to check the condition of the animal. The panel will then take a decision. It's also a major emotional and some vets feel it's best that the animal dies naturally.”

Another expert vet said: “I am not directly aware about the case of this tigress. But if she is already 19 years old and has undergone multiple surgeries, her case should be considered on a priority basis by the state chief wildlife warden,” he said.