11-year-old tiger dies of pneumonia at TVM zoo

An 11-year-old tigress died at the Thiruvananthapuram Zoo on Saturday morning after battling pneumonia.

The animal had been captured in 2025 from the Amarikkuni area under the South Wayanad Forest Division after it strayed into human habitation and posed a threat. It was brought to the zoo in January 2025 for rehabilitation. Though its injuries were treated, the tigress had lost its canine teeth and was therefore kept under care instead of being released back into the wild.

The tigress had been undergoing treatment for the past two weeks after being diagnosed with pneumonia. It also suffered from a pre-existing liver condition and did not respond to antibiotics. Its condition worsened, and it died around 6 am.

Postmortem procedures were carried out in accordance with guidelines of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), following which the carcass was cremated at around 3 pm. The cause of death was confirmed as acute bronchopneumonia.

The postmortem was conducted by Dr Harish C from the State Institute for Animal Diseases, Palode, along with zoo veterinary surgeon Dr Nikesh Kiran.

Zoo director Manjula Devi paid her last respects. Zoo superintendent Rajesh V S, biologist Shwetha Mukundan, livestock inspectors Jijo and Nahas, assistant Rajesh, and supervisors Rajesh, Vasudevan and Ramachandran were also present.

With this, the zoo now houses one white tiger, Shravan, and two Bengal tigers. The average lifespan of tigers is around 12 years.