Tiger cub dies at Bengal Safari Park, 2nd such death in a month

Kolkata, Aug 18 (IANS) A cub of Kika, the only albino tigress at the Bengal Safari Park at Siliguri of Darjeeling district in north Bengal, reportedly died on Friday morning.

This happens to be the second death of a tiger cub at Bengal Safari Park within a span of little over a month.

On July 12,  Kika gave birth to two cubs in its enclosure. However, one of the two newborn cubs died on the very next day while the other survived for the time being. 

Though the officials of the Bengal Safari Park are totally tight-lipped over the reason behind the cub's death, the state forest department sources said that the cub died probably out of acute malnutrition.

Confirming the development, state forest minister Jyoti Priya Mullick said that in all probability, malnutrition was the reason behind this unfortunate death. “We have decided to conduct a detailed investigation into the matter,” he added.

“The cub started refusing mothers’ milk for the last few days. Two expert veterinary specialists were also brought to park for proper treatment of the cub. Meanwhile, the mother tigress Kika too seems to be in a state of shock as she too has stopped eating. She is kept under constant observation and medication,” a state forest department official aware of the development said.

Kika was born on May 11, 2018 out of Shila and Snehasish. The development of two cubs within a period of little over two months have raised questions about the efficiency of the Bengal Safari Park authorities, which is already saddled with lots of allegations of tender- related irregularities.