Mumbai, Nov 26 (PTI) The death of Royal Bengal male tiger Shakti at the Byculla zoo on November 17 is attributed to pneumonia, which resulted in respiratory failure, according to the Mumbai civic body.
The BMC dismissed reports that the nine-and-a-half-year-old big cat died because a bone was stuck in his windpipe.
Shakti did not consume any food on November 15 and was subsequently kept under the observation of a veterinarian. Medicines were administered to him through water. On November 16, Shakti ate some chicken and drank water, following which he started retching, the BMC said.
During a check-up on November 17, he started experiencing convulsions and died at 12.15 pm. The tiger had not recorded any ailment before.
His postmortem revealed that he died due to payogranulomatous pneumonia, resulting in respiratory failure. The samples of his organs have been sent to the Wildlife Research and Training Centre in Nagpur. A detailed report has also been sent to the Central Zoo Authority, the BMC said.
Shakti was relocated to the Veermata Jizabai Bhonsle Zoo in Byculla from Siddharth Zoo in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in February 2020 as part of an exchange programme along with tigress Karishma. Since then, the pair has become an attraction for people.
Currently, the zoo has a male tiger, Jai, aged three, and tigress Karishma, aged 11.5 years. PTI PR NSK
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