Grand-old tiger of Delhi zoo dies of multiple organ failure

NEW DELHI: Those who set their eyes on Naresh were struck by his ferocity. His huge size and aggression marked him out as the alpha male among the five other of his kind at Delhi zoo. The roar of this Royal Bengal Tiger would send chills running down the spine of his keepers and visitors till age took the fight, and finally, the breath out of his body. The fearsome cat died of multiple organ failure on Saturday night.

“Enfeebled with age, the tiger had developed nodules in the lungs; his heart had excessive fat and both his kidneys had failed. He, however, had managed to outlive the average lifespan of his species,” said zoo veterinarian Dr N Panneer Selvam. Naresh was more than 20 years old, while the average lifespan of a tiger in captivity is 16-18 years.

TOI had reported on Sunday that the tiger’s condition had started to deteriorate five days back, after which he was kept under constant care. His health declined rapidly on Saturday, leaving him critical.

“Naresh was allowed to rest in sunlight on Saturday morning,. Around 4pm, he collapsed and started having convulsions,” said a zoo official. “We made all attempts to revive him by injecting glucose and electrolytes. The tiger lost the battle finally and died late in the night,” added the official.

The tiger was cremated in the zoo early morning after a postmortem. With his death, only one male tiger is left among the five surviving Royal Bengal tigers. The Delhi zoo also has seven white tigers, of which two are male and five are female.

Zoo officials say there are plans of bringing one more wild Royal Bengal Tiger for breeding since all the female tigers are ready for mating. “The surviving male tiger, Ramu, is old and may have crossed his breeding age, whereas the tigresses are ready for mating. We plan to get a wild-caught tiger from another zoo,” said a source in the zoo. The last birth of a Royal Bengal tiger at Delhi zoo was in 2005, when tigress Zing Zing was born to Ramu and Priya. Ramu is about 19 years old.

There are 283 Royal Bengal Tigers in 54 zoos across India, according to the data released for 2010-11.

Remembering Naresh, zoo curator Riaz Ahmad Khan said the breeding programmes were never successful with Naresh because of his ferocity. “Caught from the wild, he was never mated as he used to attack the female tigers,” said Khan. Naresh had made the Delhi zoo his home in 2005.