Rising heat wave leaves SGNP tiger high and dry

The rise in temperature has taken a toll on one of the tigers in the city. Palash, a 14-year-old Royal Bengal tiger at Borivali’s Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), one of the six tigers there, has contracted urinary infection and therefore been kept in isolation. Palash could have fallen sick as a result of the “sudden departure of the monsoon” that has raised the mercury levels, purportedly much to the discomfiture of animals like him, according to SGNP sources. However, Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP)’s veterinarian Dr Shailesh Pethe termed the tiger’s sickness “routine”. “The sudden rise in temperature is one of the reasons for the infection. The rich protein diet that the cats are fed with also leads to a routine infection and is nothing major,” Dr Pethe told The Asian Age.

“In order to cure the animal, we will control the quantity of his diet,” he added.

Sources confirmed that the tiger has been kept in an isolated cage since Monday as his activities were not found to be “normal”. “It was not eating regularly and was growling a lot,” said a source. Palash is the second oldest resident among the six tigers currently at SNGP. The park has total of six tigers including a 17-year-old white tiger, Bajirao.

Besides, the park authorities have brought two tigresses from the Pench Tiger Reserve in July who are still undergoing training and not been put in cages.