Bilaspur: Just weeks before his 11th birthday, Akash, the lone white tiger at the Kanha Pendari Zoological Park in Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur, died of cardiac arrest, zoo officials said on Tuesday.
The officials stated that the tiger was healthy and active until just moments before his sudden death on Monday.
As per reports, tiger Akash was born on May 16, 2014, to white tiger Vijay and tigress Siddi. He was the tourists' favourite and one of the major attractions of the park, officials said.
The zoo management said, "Akash was completely healthy and was walking comfortably in his enclosure about 20 minutes before his death. He had also eaten his food on the day. At around 9.30 AM, when zoo keeper Jitendra went to open the enclosure gate, he noticed that the Akash was lying still near the enclosure wall. The zoo keeper poured water on the big cat so that he would wake up but he did not respond."
The zoo keeper immediately informed Kaditi Ranger Sukhbai Kanwar about Akash being unconscious, but by the time the Ranger reached the enclosure, Akash had stopped breathing. Zoo Vet Dr PK Chandan also rushed to the spot. After thorough examination, it was confirmed that Tiger Akash had died, the management said.
As per the procedure, a post mortem was conducted in presence of Chief Forest Conservator, Zoo Director, Independent Expert Mansoor Khan and a three-member veterinary committee, which revealed that Akash died due to cardiac arrest. No injury marks were found on the body of the big cat.
"Akash was the only white tiger in the zoo. He wasn't just a tiger, he was family for us," said the zoo keeper.
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