White tigress Sneha dies at Nandankanan zoo

Bhubaneswar: A 14-year-old white tigress Sneha died at Nandankanan Zoological Park on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar on Friday. The white tigress fell ill on Thursday and was under medication. She was suffering from old age ailments and her condition could have worsened due to the prevailing heat wave. She was administered saline and medicines but died on Friday morning.

Sneha had delivered three cubs Mousumi (female), Chinu (male) and rare melanistic Vicky (male) on August 5, 2016. She then delivered Luv and Kush during her second pregnancy. On March 28, 2021, she gave birth to three normal male tiger cubs Rakesh, Rocky and Banshi.

The zoo had lost 11-year-old white tigress Bijaya, which succumbed to a cancerous growth in her lungs, in October 2022. A five-year-old white male tiger Subhranshu died due to liver-related ailments in October 2019.