Mumbai: 4 year old tigress dies, vets suspect leukemia

A four-year-old Royal Bengal tigress died of septicemia at Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) on Thursday evening. Puja was born to Palash and Basanti in the park itself.

According to park officials, she had been suffering from a wound at the base of her tail since September last year and had been on treatment for the past 4 months. They also suspect that she could have been suffering from autoimmune disease (when the body's immune system starts attacking healthy tissue) or leukemia (cancer or the bone marrow, blood). 

Shailesh Deore, superintendent of the lion and tiger safari, told dna, “She kept developing wounds on different parts of her body. We treated the wound at the base of her tail. But then it reappeared, along with four to five more. We conducted several tests including an ultrasound and her blood samples were sent for lab tests. Her body had a tendency to resist antibiotics. She was also quite obese as compared to other tigresses.” The park's director, Vikas Gupta, could not be reached for comment.

Questions however have been raised about whether the big cats of the national park were receiving adequate and correct treatment after a spate of deaths last year. Last year, four leopards and a lion died within three months. The last death was in December.

Poman, a 15-year-old leopardess who had been suffering from leptospirosis, a bacterial infection spread by rodents. A source who did not wish to be named said that the big cats were suffering because of inadequate treatment. Vets often did not tend to them for long periods of time. Moreover, sometimes, they would fling haldi at the cat, targeting an infected wound, instead of applying it. The haldi would often spill instead on the cat's face, said the source. SGNP now is left with seven Royal Bengal tigers and three White tigers. A post-mortem report will determine the exact cause of Puja's death.