Sunderbans tiger recovering at zoo

KOLKATA: The Sunderbans tiger which was brought to Alipore zoo for treatment on Thursday is doing well now. Zoo officials said the big cat, aged about 7 to 8 years, is responding to the treatment and has a good appetite.

“We had given it a full chicken on Saturday morning and 3 kg meat at night. He ate the food, which shows it has a healthy appetite. We are planning to raise the quantity of meat from Sunday,” said Dr D N Banerjee, who is attending to the tiger at the zoo.

Zoo director Neeraj Singhal said the tiger’s condition is better, but the hind portion is still weak. “We had done its stool test and found presence of worms. De-worming will be done soon. We also have plans to collect its blood samples in a couple of days for further tests so that we get to know whether it has any internal ailment,” Singhal added.

Sunderbans Biosphere Reserve director Pradeep Vyas said that he, along with chief wildlife warden S B Mondol, would be visiting the zoo early next week to check the tiger’s condition.

Two members of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) Schedule I animal handling committee, Joydip Kundu and Anurag Danda, visited the zoo on Friday afternoon. “It will take some time to give a final report. Observing a tiger in a cage is quite difficult compared to observing it in the field. So, I will take time and give my complete observations,” said Kundu.

It may be noted that TOI, in its Friday edition, had reported that the big cat was spotted in Pirkhali VI by forest department officials on Wednesday. They had observed the tiger for 24 hours and as there was very less movement in it, the foresters decided to bring it to the zoo for treatment.