Leopard cub dies at Van Vihar
| Date :17-Dec-2019 |
Staff Reporter :
One year old leopard cub that was brought to Van Vihar National Park after being rescued from Balaghat, died on Monday due to prolonged illness. Autopsy suggested that cub died of infection in lungs. The female cub was abandoned by mother and was brought to Van Vihar on March 13. The cub was under treatment of veterinary doctors from December 12. After a few days, the cub started taking food and showed improvement in health conditions. Ashok Jain, Deputy Director of Van Vihar, said, “the cub was under treatment and she was showing improvement for a few days.
All of sudden she died in her enclosure. Doctors have diagnosed lungs infection as reason for death.” Late on Sunday night, the cub died in the enclosure. Post-mortem of the cub was conducted by veterinary doctor Atul Gupta, Dr Seema Bhindwale, wildlife hospital and State Veterinary Laboratory. Carcass of the leopard has been sent to School of Wildlife Forensic and Health, Jabalpur, and State Animal Lab, Jehangirabad. Autopsy suggested that the cub died of infection in lungs.
The cub was brought to the park in a critical condition at the age of four months as mother leopard abandoned the cub. The park management kept cub under strict observance of veterinary doctors and goat milk was being offered to the cub through bottles. Dr Ashok Jain, Deputy Director at Van Vihar National Park, said “normal weight of four-month-old cub should be around nine to ten kilograms. But this cub weight was only 5 kilogram when she was brought here.” He further informed that on March 12, patrolling team of Balaghat forest division saw the cub roaming alone.
They followed cub throughout day but his mother leopard did not come till late night. Final the cub was brought to the forest office where doctors suggested to shift him at Van Vihar for better treatment. “However marginal improvement was witnessed within week and all best efforts was being made to keep the cub surviving. Our veterinary doctors said that the cub was improving and she was gaining weight too,” he added. He said that it is very common among big cats that they abandon their weak cub.