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Journalism of Courage
JULY 13: Trypanosomiasis, the infectious disease that killed a dozen royal Bengal tigers in Nandankanan zoo in Orissa, was recently detected in a buffalo at a village adjacent to the Ranthambhor national park.
Chief Conservator of Forests (Wild Life) R G Soni said the diseased buffalo, which was from Shyampura, had recovered following treatment.
Soni said trypanosomosis was transmitted among cattle by flies. During monsoon which is the breeding season of the vector fly, the occurrence of the disease is common in the eastern districts in Rajasthan like Alwar, Bharatpur, Dausa and Sawai Madhopur.
Soni said a team had been sent to the Jaipur zoo to test its tigers for the disease as a precautionary measure in view of the Nandankanan tragedy. The blood samples of tigers had tested negative for trypanosomosis. The 17-year-old white tigress Sapna, brought here 12 years ago from Nandankanan, was found to be suffering from a lung infection. Sapna is one of the two white tigers, both female, in Rajasthan. The other white tigress, Reshma, is 10 years old and is an albino born of normal-coloured parents.
