Parasite Kills Endangered Tigers in Pakistan Zoo
Date: 24-Apr-06
Country: PAKISTAN
The tigers died in Lahore Zoo on Wednesday, victims of the "Trypanosoma" parasite which is spread by flies and mosquitoes, Nasir Saleem, a deputy director of the zoo, said.
The parasite is known to have killed over 100 tigers in India and Bangladesh in the last six months.
Zoo director Mohammmad Yousuf Pal said the parasite killed eight tigers in Pakistan in 1995 and 1997.
"We are taking every precautionary measure and treatment to ensure it does not become an epidemic in our country," he said.
The Bengal tiger is endangered because of poaching and loss of habitat, with less than 3,000 left in the wild today. India alone had an estimated 40,000 tigers at the beginning of the last century.