The tiger, Bheema, which was in the Ballari mini zoo since birth for over 22 years, and was ailing, died on the way to Bengaluru for treatment.
Bheema was suffering from dental infection and four of its teeth in the front row had loosened. On October 2, a team of experts from Wildlife SOS from Bengaluru had performed a minor surgery and it was fine.
A couple of days ago, it developed dental infection again and was becoming weak as its intake had decreased considerably. It was on liquid diet and was also put on saline. To get the animal good treatment, the authorities had planned to shift it to Bannerghatta National Park, where proper facilities were available.
Even as the vehicle carrying him passed the outskirts of the city, he breathed his last.
Post-mortem of the carcass revealed that apart from dental infection, vital organs, including kidneys, had also failed.
Bheema had lived his life all alone, without a mate.
The last rites of Bheema were performed with full honours.
Now, efforts are on to get a tiger for the mini zoo, K. Purushottam, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Atal Behari Vajpayee Zoological Park at Kamalapur, told The Hindu .
