Royal Bengal tiger dies of heart failure at Hyderabad Zoo

A Royal Bengal tiger at Nehru Zoological Park (NZP) in Hyderabad has died of heart failure, a forest official said on Sunday.

According to the official, the 11-year-old male tiger named Kadamba died on Saturday night.

As per the post-mortem report, Kadamba died of shock due to congestive heart failure.

"With the passing away of Kadamba, the Nehru Zoological Park now has 11 Royal Bengal Tigers (yellow) (8 adults and 3 cubs), and 9 Royal Bengal Tigers (white) adults. Out of these three Royal Bengal Tigers (yellow) Roja (21), Soni (20) and Aparna (19) have already surpassed average lifespan," said N Kshitija, IFS, Curator, Nehru Zoological Park, Hyderabad.

Kadamba was brought from Pilukula Biological Park, Mangalore in March 2014 via an mal exchange programme.

The 11-year-old tiger did not show any apparent signs of illness, but was off feed frequently, for the last few days, for which he was under observation of the Zoo veterinarians, the official added.

"All the required blood and tissue samples were collected and sent to College of Veterinary Science, Rajendranager, Hyderabad, Veterinary Biological Research Institute, Shantinagar, and LaCONES-CCMB, Attapur for further detailed examination," said Kshitija.

( With inputs from ANI )