Two more lions, young tigress die in Bannerghatta Biological Park

Two lions and a tigress have died in the Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) over the last weekend. Earlier on Friday, a 21-year-old Siberian tiger had died in the park.

The tigress, three-and-a-half-year-old Divya, died of diarrohea in the safari area of the park on Sunday night. The body and blood and viscera samples of the tigress have been sent to the Institute of Animal Health and Veterinarian Sciences in Hebbal, said BBP executive director Milo Tago.

Divya was reportedly undergoing treatment for over 12 days.  Besides Divya, two lions — Lakshman (22) and Shankar (24) — died at the Born Free Foundation of the park earlier on Saturday night.

Tago, however, said the deaths of lions and the Siberian tiger were no cause for worry and were due to old age.

There are 63 lions and two tigers remaining in the rescue centre and nine lions and 47 tigers in safari area. There are also two tigers in the Born Free Foundation — Rocky and Maasti. Divya, incidentally, was Maasti’s daughter.

However, wildlife lovers and experts have expressed concern over the sudden spurt in deaths of the tigers and lions in BBP.

Zoo Authority of Karnataka member-secretary MN Jayakumar told DNA that postmortem and analysis of blood and viscera samples should help in pointing the exact cause of deaths. “The tests are being done by experts from the Institute of Animal Health and Veterinarian Sciences. We are not doing these tests to ensure that there is no room for any suspicion,” he said.

“There is no mystery in the death of the animals. They have lived longer than their normal life span in the wild (12-16 years). There are 13 lions and a tiger in the BBP which are above the age of 18 years. More deaths of these animals can take place,” he explained.