Odisha: Tiger that sneaked into Nandankanan a decade ago falls sick

Bhubaneswar: A wild Royal Bengal Tiger that had sneaked into Nandankanan Zoological Park (NZP) in Odisha capital here over a decade ago is now suffering from arthritis, zoo sources said today.

The male tiger that had been rehabilitated at NZP in 2013 is suffering from arthritis in its waist and facing difficulties to walk properly, said an official of the zoo.

“The tiger, named as Nandan, has been kept on the premises of a veterinary hospital at NZP. Indramani Nath, the chief of Orthopaedic department at OUAT, is now treating the 17-year-old big cat. The veterinarians have collected blood samples from the ailing tiger and conducted x-ray on it after tranquillization,” added the official.

Notably, the big cat had strayed into Nandankanan from the wild in 2013. The zoo officials had then suspected that the male tiger might have come from either Satkosia forests in Dhenkanal or Khuntuni reserve forests in Cuttack in search of a mate.

The male tiger had mated with tigress Megha and fathered two cubs in 2016 and three more in 2021 at NZP, sources said.