Tiger Kadamba, who once went walkabout in Hyderabad zoo, dies of heart failure

Hyderabad: A Royal Bengal tiger, 11-year-old Kadamba, died at the Nehru Zoological Park late Saturday night of heart failure. On August 24, 2015, Kadamba had jumped over the 10-foot wall around his enclosure to enjoy a stroll in the zoo.

Zoo officials said Kadamba had not shown any signs of weakness or illness.

On June 25, the zoo had lost an eight-year-old white tiger, Kiran, to a neoplastic tumour.

“Kadamba was fine till Saturday evening. We gave him food at feeding time but he did not show any interest in eating. This same behaviour had persisted over the last few days,” said an official of the zoo.

A post-mortem examination was conducted by the veterinary team headed by Dr M. Lakshman, professor and head, department of pathology, College of Veterinary Science.

“All the required blood and tissue samples were collected and sent to the College of Veterinary Science, Veterinary Biological Research Institute, Shantinagar, and Laboratory for Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES), a unit under the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), for further detailed examination,” the official added.

Kadamba was brought to the city zoo from the Pilukula Biological Park, Mangaluru, in 2014 via an animal exchange programme.

After Kadam’s death, the Nehru Zoo is left with 11 Royal Bengal tigers — eight adults and three cubs. Three of them — Roja (21 years), Soni (20 years) and Aparna (19 years) — have already surpassed the average lifespan. The zoo also has nine adult white Royal Bengal tigers.