Pilikula Zoo’s star attraction, tiger Vikram, dies of old-age

Mangaluru, Oct 26 : The Pilikula Biological Park (PBP) wore a gloomy look as it lost one of its star attraction, 21-year-old tiger Vikram, died on Monday due to age related issues, zoo officials said.
“The tiger was under treatment for nearly two months as it was suffering from age related issues such as blindness, arthritis and renal failure,” the PBP director, H. Jayaprakash Bhandari told IANS from Mangaluru.
While speaking to IANS, the PBP’s senior scientific officer, Jerald Vikram Lobo said that it is a great loss for the Zoo as this was easily available for public viewing.
“The 21-year-old big cat stopped consuming food for the last one week due to health issues and it succumbed at 5 a.m. on Monday, but he was on drips and on antibiotic, but he could not respond to medical treatment,” he said.
He added that the tiger had sired 10 cubs in its entire life span.
“His cubs were named Kadamba, Krishna, Oliver, Akshaya, Manju, Amar, Akbar, Anthony and Nisha. All these cubs were transferred to various zoos in India such as to Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Mysuru and Rajasthan,” he explained.