KARACHI: The zoo has lost its last surviving member of the tiger family, it emerged on Friday.

Sources said that the old Bengal tigress died on Thursday after remaining seriously ill for some time. The facility is now left with two lionesses, a lion and a pair of lions.

“She was one of the oldest members of the zoo family. In recent weeks, she had developed multiple health complications,” a zoo official said, adding that the big cat was provided the much-needed treatment, but she couldn’t recover.

“In recent months, we were able to save an old lioness whose condition had deteriorated to an extent that we thought it would die,” he said.

The zoo director wasn’t available for comments.

The sources said the Bengal tigress had a solitary existence for a long time. Other members of the zoo tiger family, including an imported pair and a male big cat brought in from Lahore through an animal exchange programme, died over the years.

The sources shared that while the zoo had kept several pairs of Bengal tigers in different times, the facility had never seen a birth in the species in decades.

“The lions’ case was a bit different. There had been a few births in this species but the babies either couldn’t survive or went missing,” shared a zoo official on the condition of anonymity, hoping that the cubs recently born to a zoo lioness would survive.

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2024

Opinion

From hard to harder

From hard to harder

Instead of ‘hard state’ turning even harder, citizens deserve a state that goes soft on them in delivering democratic and development aspirations.

Editorial

Canal unrest
Updated 03 Apr, 2025

Canal unrest

With rising water scarcity in Indus system, it is crucial to move towards a consensus-driven policymaking process.
Iran-US tension
03 Apr, 2025

Iran-US tension

THE Trump administration’s threats aimed at Iran do not bode well for global peace, and unless Washington changes...
Flights to history
03 Apr, 2025

Flights to history

MOHENJODARO could have been the forgotten gold we desperately need. Instead, this 5,000-year-old well of antiquity ...
Eid amidst crises
Updated 31 Mar, 2025

Eid amidst crises

Until the Muslim world takes practical steps to end these atrocities, these besieged populations will see no joy.
Women’s rights
Updated 01 Apr, 2025

Women’s rights

Such judgements, and others directly impacting women’s rights should be given more airtime in media.
Not helping
Updated 02 Apr, 2025

Not helping

If it's committed to peace in Balochistan, the state must draw a line between militancy and legitimate protest.