Vets at Bannerghatta Biological Park manage to save ailing tiger cub

BENGALURU: Veterinary doctors and the zoo administration of Bannerghatta Biological Park are making all efforts to to save a seven-month-old tiger cub after it suffered from polycystic kidney disease and cataract.

Zoo workers feed goat milk to the tiger cub.

The tiger cub was born on March 25 this year to mother Anushka and father Mithun. The mother abandoned the cub and veterinarians and zoo administrators shifted it to the zoo hospital. They fed milk and other health supplements along with necessary drugs to save the cub. The seven-month-old tiger cub is now recovering and is growing up at the Rescue Centre of the Bannerghatta Biological Park Hospital.

The team of medical officers and doctors, led by Dr Umashankar and Dr Manjunath, Dr Vijay, Dr Vishakha and the zoo workers including Savitramma, Shivakumar, Mahadeva, Raju and Basaiah are feeding and taking care of the tiger cub.

Dr Umashankar

“The tiger cub was in a coma after the birth, so we immediately shifted it to the hospital. We gave goat milk and it is recovering. When we did an ultrasound scan, we found out it was suffering from congenital polycystic kidney disease. We discussed it with other doctors and officials and we realised that it was a genetic disease and that the life span was less”, said Dr Umashankar.

“Slowly, it started to show  symptoms of cataract in both the eyes. We consulted eye doctors and administered the suggested drug. Many had suggested it wouldn’t live for more than a week. But it’s active and healthy even after seven months and it will live many more years. Our team has made all efforts to save it, “he added.

Dr Vishakha

“Our tiger, Anushka, gave birth to a tiger cub seven months ago. Our officials and doctors decided to treat the cub at the zoo hospital. We fed it goat milk as we had previous experience. We decided to do fluid therapy, but it was difficult to find a vein as it was one day old, so we did seven days of treatment. We gave antibiotics and fluids to the tiger cub. It recovered after ten days and started to drink milk. But we cannot guarantee a lifespan as it has acongenital disease. We are now proud to see it is healthy and active, “said  Dr Vishakha.