Overview

• Two tigresses, Payal (17) and Rupa (21), died within 24 hours at Kolkata’s Alipore Zoo.
• West Bengal Forest Minister Birbaha Hansda said post-mortems indicate natural, age-related deaths and ordered an internal inquiry.
• The Central Zoo Authority has formed an investigation committee, and the state Chief Wildlife Warden has initiated a high-level probe.
• Post-mortems by a three-doctor team at the Alipore veterinary hospital were video-recorded, with viscera tests pending for definitive results.
• Recent allegations of missing animals and a court-curbed plan to commercialize zoo land have intensified scrutiny of the zoo’s management.