KARACHI: A young Bengal tiger imported only two years ago faces the threat of death as vets at the Karachi Zoological Gardens have so far failed to help recover the animal whose condition is said to be deteriorating with each passing day, it emerged on Saturday.

The big cat, hardly six years old, was found in distress during a recent visit to the zoo. The animal once beautiful and agile had lost considerable weight and appeared to have been starving for long.

What had added to its misery was the callous behaviour of the zoo administration that hadn’t even bothered to shift the animal to a separate facility where it could rest and recuperate in peace. The hot weather conditions also seemed to have been affecting the poor animal, which was too weak to walk or even sit properly.

The big cat, according to sources, had been suffering from a deadly disease for three months. The zoo administration, they said, had called quite a few experts to examine the animal but no treatment proved effective.

“His digestive system is completely destroyed and he might not survive for long,” an animal handler said.

Additional director for the zoo Syed Aqeel Tazeem Naqvi told Dawn that the tiger had some problem in his gastrointestinal tract. “He has shown signs of improvement and now runs around but the doctor has clearly told us that the animal can’t be cured completely,” he said, adding that the zoo had set up a medical board for the tiger’s treatment.

The animal, he said, had started eating gradually but appeared to have lost the ability to digest which was why he appeared emaciated.

“The doctors are doing their best. As for the animal’s shifting, we have requested the higher authorities for it in writing and the request might take some time to be approved,” he said.

The ailing tiger was bought with its mate, aged between three and four years, at a cost of Rs7.1 million from Belgium through a local animal dealer in 2012. A pair of white lions now housed in the zoo also accompanied them.

The animals were imported without the mandatory import permit from the Islamabad-based National Council for Conservation of Wildlife.

The zoo administration had bought the tigers for the Safari Park but they could never shift the big cats there.

A Bengal tiger died at the zoo in 2012 after having remained ill for some time. Zoo officials claimed that the ageing big cat had suffered a third attack of paralysis and couldn’t survive.

National animal of both Bangladesh and India, the Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) has been classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.