West Bengal: Raja, the oldest Royal Bengal tiger, dies in captivity aged 25

The longest surviving Royal Bengal tiger at midnight 3, passed away in West Bengal on Monday leaving the forest department and the zoo officials in a state of mourning. The reason behind Raja's death is said to be his old age. Raja, the Royal Bengal tiger from the South Khairbari tiger rescue and rehabilitation centre at Alipurduar's Madarihat died at the age of 25 years and 10 months only second to the longest surviving tiger of India in captivity who lived up to 26 years. Guddu, a 26-year-old captive tiger, passed away in January 2014 at the Kanpur Zoo in Uttar Pradesh, making him the oldest tiger alive of that time.

About Royal Bengal Tiger Raja

The Royal Bengal Tiger was brought to South Khairbari Tiger Rescue Center in North Bengal after he suffered 10 injuries during a territorial fight with a crocodile in 2008. When he was brought to the South Khairbari rescue facility, he was approximately 11 years old. He lived there for another 15 years and was one of the oldest tigers alive in the nation. It is important to mention here that a tiger normally lives 12-13 years in the wild and in a captive environment their lifespan increases up to 15-16.

SK Meena, DM Alipurduar speaking on Raja's death informed that his body has been sent to post-mortem and the officials are waiting for the results. He also said that people visited the zoo, especially to see the Royal Bengal Tiger. SK Meena said, "Royal Bengal tiger Raja was rescued from Sundarbans after a crocodile attack back in 2008. Post-mortem on Raja conducted, report awaited. He was old & had been sick for a while. His death is unfortunate, people especially came to see him."