Kochi: The tigress which was trapped in a cage in Wayanad and brought to Thrissur Zoo on Monday died on Thursday. The animal was caged as it came out of the forest to enter residential areas in Sulthan Bathery on Sunday. It is learnt from Zoo authorities here that the animal had lost its one tooth and had suffered injuries on its left front paw. The seven-year-old animal was kept in a special cage in the zoo for observation on arrival after veterinary doctors administered medicines.
Official in the zoo said that the animal had started eating food but died during the wee hours of Thursday. After conducting the postmortem, the dead body was buried in the zoo compound. The zoo did not have any tigresses after Gowri, the lone tigress in the zoo, died of old age on September 11. But it has three tigers. Meanwhile, pro-animal organization Heritage Animal Task Force based here has come out against the zoo authorities alleging that the tiger was shifted illegally from Wayanad forest area into Thrissur Zoo and died due to negligence.
“The tiger was administered with a heavy dose of tranquilizing medicine before and after it reached Thrissur Zoo and later it was not able to eat anything. It had also shown inability to drink water due to the administration of tranquilizers. The transportation of the injured tigers from Wayanad to Thrissur zoo was carried out by violating all the norms prescribed for transporting caged tigers prescribed by the Tiger Conservation Authority,” V K Venkitachalm of Heritage Animal Task Force said in his complaint to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest on Thursday. He said that the ministry needed to chalk out a master-plan for rehabilitation of tigers, trapped near Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary by urgently starting a rehabilitation centre at the sanctuary.
