[FEL-L] 2 Royal Bengal tigers die at India zoo :-(

[BigCatSimba at aol.com]

Sept. 21, 2006, 1:42PM


By DEEPAK SHARMA Associated Press Writer



AMRITSAR, India — Two young Royal Bengal tigers died unexpectedly at a zoo in 
India where dozens of lions have already died young, possibly because of a 
breeding program that produced weak animals, a conservator said Thursday.


A nearly 3-year-old tiger was found dead in its enclosure Wednesday. A few 
hours later, its 3 1/2-year-old female companion collapsed and died at the 
Chhatbir Zoo near the northern city of Chandigarh , said Dharmender Sharma, who 
runs the zoo.


He couldn't explain the deaths and said the results of post-mortem tests are 
expected in five to six days.


The deaths came at a time when authorities are monitoring 24 hybrid lions who 
have a disease thought to be linked to a breeding experiment at the zoo using 
Asiatic and African lions.


Most of the lions, all age 12 years or older, are expected to live for five 
to six years longer, said Kuldip Kumar, a conservator at the Forest and 
Wildlife Department of Punjab state. Lions in captivity generally do not live longer 
than 18 years.


The breeding program, which began in the late 1980s at the Chhatbir Zoo, has 
been blamed for the early deaths of many of the nearly 80 lions involved. The 
zoo ended the program in 2002 because it suspected a mysterious disease that 
struck the lions was linked to inbreeding and a weakened gene pool, Kumar said.


Wildlife officials had hoped the hybrid lions could be introduced into the 
wild to bolster India 's endangered wild lion population. Surveys of the forests 
in western India since 2000 have put the number of wild Asiatic lions at 
fewer than 400.


Experts say poaching is driving the Asiatic lion to extinction. Lions are 
killed for their pelts and claws, both of which command a high price in the 
illegal wildlife trade.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/4204511.html
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