LAHORE: Two tigresses at the Lahore Zoo have died due to a blood parasite attack and a tiger is in a critical condition.

The menace of blood parasite called ‘trypanosoma’ has hit the Lahore Zoo tigers after 11 years. With the death of two tigresses, the zoo has now three tigers.

It lost an eight-year-old tigress on March 11 and another on Friday due to the bloody parasite outbreak and a brown male tiger is critical. The blood parasite had previously attacked the tigers in 1997 and 2007, claiming 12 lives.

A tiger is one of the costliest animals and, according to wildlife officials, each costs around Rs5 million.

According to Lahore Zoo Director Hassan Ali Sukhera, the outbreak of blood parasite is a silent killer putting the lives of big cats, especially tigers, at risk. “The lions are more resistant but as far as tigers are concerned, they become instant victims of this parasite that comes through a fly called tsetse.”

Elaborating on the situation the Lahore Zoo is facing in the wake of the parasite outbreak, Mr Sukhera told Dawn that outbreak never has any specific period or time of attack that’s why after every three months blood samples of big cats are taken and tested. The recent blood tests taken earlier in the month proved alarming in the case of tigers, he added.

Officials at the Zoo told this reporter that they had communicated the alarming situation to the higher-ups.

Meanwhile, a report says the Lahore Zoo tigers/tigresses are under attack of haemoparasites. All tigers have been treated against babesiosis and follow up medication is also being done against trypnosomiasis.

White tigress Mohini succumbed to the attack on Friday. “It was off the feet for the last two days and her nervosa signs were very severe; convulsions and jerks and signs of epilepsy had also developed.”

“Rawal, the male brown tiger, is also showing severe nervous signs due to which it is also not able to move properly,” says the report. According to the report, Prof Dr Asim Khalid visited the felids on March 13 and prescribed the treatment. A team of experts from the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) also visited the facility on March 14.

The Lahore Zoo Safari on Raiwind Road has four tigers and its director, Muhammad Shafqat, when contacted, sounded quite confident about the health of tigers. “Our tigers are fine but still the blood tests of all of them are being carried out to be on the safe side,” he said.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2018