Just when things were looking up for the sick tigers at Bannerghatta, here is news that two infected tigers had diarrhoea again.
Officials at the Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP), who had reason to feel relieved, now feel the stress of tending to the big cats coming right back.
Four-year-old Divya, a safari tigress, died of salmonella bacteria infection on Sunday. Ten other tigers, Arya, Surya, Razia, Vinay, Shreyas, Sindhu, Inchara, Minchu, Anu, (all safari tigers), and Rocky (a Sumatran tiger at the Born Free Foundation within the BBP) showed symptoms similar to Divya's soon afterwards.
Anu, mother of Divya, and Inchara, Divya's sister, on Thursday suffered bouts of diarrhoea, sending BBP officials into a tizzy again. Minchu (another of Divya's siblings) who showed little sign of improvement on Wednesday, appeared in better health on Thursday.
While some of the tigers have now begun to accept food, not all of them are eating as they did before being afflicted. Surya (a white tiger) showed poor appetite. Arya (a royal Bengal tiger and Surya's twin brother) appeared to be on the path to recovery on Wednesday, but appeared quite dull and also showed signs of skin retraction on Thursday.
Now that BBP officials know that the salmonella bacteria infection was caused by contaminated chicken, the tigers are being fed a diet of beef. While their normal diet comprises three kg chicken, 13-15 kg of beef and one egg, they are now being fed only 15 kg of beef each.
MN Jayakumar, member secretary of the Zoo Authority of Karnataka, said that antibiotics and drips were being administered to all the affected animals. He said that in the normal course, recovery takes about three days. He added that he was concerned that two tigers had taken ill again with diarrhoea. He also confirmed that some of the tigers showed a distinct loss of appetite.
Director of the Institute of Animal Health and Veterinarian Biologicals (IAHVB), Dr C Renukaprasad, said, "It is now confirmed that the death of Divya was caused by the salmonella infection. The results of other samples which were collected by the team will take some more time."
The animals have all been kept in isolation. They are given tanker water to drink, rather than water from open wells or a borewell. They also have medicines to take, three times a day.
Peeved over being kept in the dark, the Central Zoo Authority has sought a status report from the BBP.
