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AN 18-YEAR-OLD white tiger, the last one inhabiting the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in suburban Borivali, died due to age-related ailments on Friday morning, officials said.
According to SGNP officials, the feline, ‘Bajirao’, was suffering for chronic ankylosis — a condition referring to abnormal stiffening and immobility of a joint due to fusion of the bones — on its left shoulder and chronic senile generalised arthritis, for last four years. The animal was also unable to walk since last 10 years, they said.
According to veterinarians tigers in protected areas live up to 16 years.
An expert advisory committee of SGNP, constituting senior veterinarian and retired veterinarians of the park, had earlier examined the tiger and suggested a line of treatment.
“Bajirao succumbed this morning due to advanced age,” a press note released by the SGNP said. A postmortem on the animal was conducted on Friday, it said. The exact cause of the tiger’s death would be inferred from the results that are expected in a couple of days, an official from national park said.
The funeral of the tiger was performed in the park itself.
Dr Shailesh Gaikwad, a taxidermist, expressed his inability to conduct taxidermy on the tiger due to unsuitable skin condition.
Bajirao was born in 2001, to tiger Siddharth.
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