21-year-old Swati, the oldest tigress in captivity in the country, died in the Assam State Zoo at Guwahati on Sunday.
“She was not keeping good health for the past few days. She was under special care for quite some time now, and was also failing in eyesight apart from losing weight.” Tejas Mariswamy, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) in charge of the Assam State Zoo here, told The Indian Express
Born in Mysore Zoo in 1998, Swati was brought to Guwahati in 2005.
As per WWF India, average life span of a Royal Bengal tiger in the wild is between 14 and 16 years, while those in confinement have an average life of 18 years.
Swati’s carcass was incarcerated inside the zoo premises on Sunday afternoon.
(Feature image source: AFP |Representational)