Bhopal, June 4 (IANS) A three-year-old tigress died at the Van Vihar National Park here, officials said Thursday. The park has lost 23 big cats in the last five years.
Tigress Ira was hale and hearty till Tuesday afternoon but was seen vomiting in the evening, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) H.S. Pabla told IANS.

The animal was brought to the park in October 2006 from Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve also in Madhya Pradesh when she was five months old.

Pabla denied there was any laxity in treating the animal.

“Park doctor Atul Gupta contacted the veterinarians and started the treatment but extensive medical assistance by the administration could not save the tigress who died early Wednesday,” Pabla said.

Experts from the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, and the Veterinary College in Jabalpur were consulted, he said.

“She had high fever (106 degrees) and was breathing heavily. Intense heat might be the reason for her illness. Her vomiting could have caused suffocation,” said A.B. Srivastava, who led a three-member doctor’s team.

Added park director S.S. Rajput: “Autopsy revealed that the big cat suffered obstructed oxygen supply following vomiting. This often happens with humans but is rare among animals.”

A committee led by Srivastava will probe the cause of death.

A tiger cub brought to the park for treatment died April 15, 2009.