Karachi Zoo lost another rare white tiger on Monday. The big cat died after a long illness, zoo officials confirmed.
Doctors determined that he died simply because he lived too long.
Karachi Zoo Senior Director Raza Abbas Rizvi said that the tiger was around 18 years old.
On average, Rizvi said tigers of a single species live for about 16 to 17 years. In comparison, the unfortunate lion had lived a little longer.
Confirming the tiger’s death, Rizvi said he had little information to share about the circumstances surrounding the tiger’s death.
After the tiger’s death on Saturday, Rizvi said veterinarians were still conducting an autopsy on the poacher to determine the cause of death.
Autopsy results
Later, sharing the post-mortem results, the veterinarians claimed that the tiger had died simply of old age.
He added that he could not detect any disease that could have caused the death of the tiger.
Veterinarians added that normally tigers live in captivity for 17 to 18 years and the tiger that died on Saturday was around 18 years old.
History of Tiger in Karachi Zoo
Karachi Zoo imported four white tigers in 2010.
Two of these tigers of the same breed died in June and November last year.
After the death of a second white African lion in November, Karachi administrator Murtaza Wahab demanded an inquiry and promised strict action against those responsible for the animal’s death.
The zoo director was subsequently removed but failed to stem the tide of animal deaths in captivity.
This is the second major death at the zoo this year.
This is the same lion that was seized by customs officials in 2010 for violating import policy. But later it was handed over to Karachi Zoo.
