PONDA
In a second major setback to the Bondla Zoo in two months, the 16-year-old male tiger 'Rana', one of the key attractions at the zoo, died on Friday afternoon.
As per the zoo guidelines, the tiger was cremated outside the zoo with “full honours” and it was a moving moment for the zoo staff, who had been attached to Rana since the tiger arrived at Bondla zoo in 2009.
It may be recalled that a female hippopotamus at Bonda Zoo had died on October 8.
Speaking to The Goan over the phone, Forest Minister Rajendra Arlekar confirmed the death of the male tiger.
Asked if more animals would be brought to Bondla zoo, Arlekar said: “We had moved a proposal to get animals from other zoos, but the problem is that we can only get them through an exchange system.”
“We can't buy these animals and we don't have animals to give in exchange. We have only 'kheti' (monkeys). Nobody will take them on an exchange system. We are trying for some other process to get more animals here at Bondla Zoo,” Arlekar said.
Paresh Parab, Range Forest Officer at Bondla, informed The Goan that 'Rana' had died at 1.15 pm on Friday.
“The tiger was not keeping well since October and was not eating normal feed (beef). It was served soft feed (chicken) and in the last four days, it was served only milk and eggs as it could not even eat the chicken,” Parab informed.
According to Parab, Rana was born on August 3, 2000, at the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park, and was brought to Goa in July 2009.
“A female tiger 'Sandhya' was also brought at the same time and that time, she was seven years old and her health is OK,” Parab said.
Dr Loveleen Vaz conducted the post-mortem of Rana and it was established that the tiger had died of old age. The staff returned to their offices on Friday evening after the tiger was cremated.
