A tiger died at the National Zoological Park here apparently due to old age, the second within a week.
According to the zoo authorities, the female tiger Kunti was around 21 years old.
"She died yesterday afternoon because of old age. A Royal Bengal tiger has a normal life span of 16-18 years in the wild while in captivity they can live five to six years more," said Riyaz Ahmed Khan, Curator of the zoo.
Kunti was a year older than Ramu, the sole Royal Bengal tiger which died a week back at the age of 20.
She was born in 1992 and brought to Delhi from the Chandigarh zoo in 2000.
"She was suffering from old age problems and died out of a failure of her liver and kidneys," said Paneer Selvam, veterinary officer of the National Zoological Park.
He added that Kunti was otherwise having a normal diet of 6-8 kgs of meat everyday but yesterday she didn't have her food.
The zoo is now left with three female royal Bengal tigers Xingxing, Rani and Priya.
"Losing Kunti is really sad for us. Priya and Kunti are nearly of the same age. Though Priya seems to be doing well, while Kunti passed away unexpectedly," said Khan.
