A nearly seven-year-old tigress suffering from a kidney ailment died in Aurangabad’s Siddharth garden and zoo early on Wednesday, officials said.
The swab samples of the six-and-a-half-year-old tigress named Kareena have been sent for a COVID-19 test, said Aurangabad civic body officials.
“The animal died a little after 5.45 a.m. She was suffering from a kidney infection. The tigress’ swab samples have been sent for testing and the results are expected soon. We will be completing formalities as per guidelines of the Indian Council of Medical Research in view of the prevailing COVID-19 situation,” said a senior official from the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation.
The feline, who was born at the zoo, had stopped eating for the last three days and had to be taken to a veterinary hospital attached to it for blood tests.
Authorities from the Animal Husbandry Department and a team of veterinary doctors were treating the animal. Opinions were also solicited from experts of the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences in Parbhani, after the feline’s marked lack of appetite.
Siddharth zoo had 12 tigers at the beginning of the year. On February 11, two of them had been moved to Mumbai’s Veermata Jijabai Udyan, commonly known as Byculla zoo.
Bronx tiger causes scare
With the COVID-19 pandemic raging across the globe, a four-year-old female Malayan tiger named Nadia had tested positive in America’s Bronx Zoo on April 5.
Alarmed by this development, all 10 tigers at Aurangabad zoo, along with the zoo staff had been screened for any signs for the virus on April 8. At the time, all staff members had tested negative for any symptoms while the body temperatures and breathing of the tigers was also found to be normal.
