Tigress found in Orang being treated in Assam's zoo

Assam: A Royal Bengal tigress was brought to a state zoo here on Friday after she was found injured near the Orang National Park in Sonitpur district.

She had accidentally drifted away from the National park. "The reason for straying out of the park may be due to territorial fight with another tiger.

Orang has seen a rise in tiger population and has the highest tiger density in India.

Tigers being fiercely territorial, such fights are common in high tiger density areas," Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Tejas Mariswamy told media persons here.

The tigress has now been kept in a comfortable cage.

On being rescued, she was found to have developed blindness due to corneal opacity, which might have happened due to starvation or injury to the eye.

The nails of her feet had become brittle, eyes had begun to lose vision and she was nearing her death when found by the team of zookeepers in Sonitpur district.

"The blindness, however, is curable. On May 10, doctors will again monitor her health," officials confirmed.