Death of white tigers caused by worms

Death of white tigers caused by worms

Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

City inspector Hendarin Ono Saleh denied on Monday reports
that the three white tiger cubs at Ragunan Zoo died from rotten
meat, saying that the deaths were caused by a type of hookworm.

"We have inspected the zoo and questioned zoo officials. We
have concluded, based on the tigers' autopsies, that the deaths
were caused by worms," Hendarin said after reporting his
investigation on the matter to City Governor Sutiyoso.

He said the administration would take legal action against
anyone who had reported that the deaths of the rare animals were
caused by rancid pork provided by the zoo, which is located in
South Jakarta.

"The governor told us to take legal action as that was
defamation," Hendarin said at City Hall.

Separately, the zoo's veterinarian, Bambang Triana, said the
deaths were caused by Galoncus permiciosus worms, which are a
type of hookworm.

"The worms usually appear once every 20 years. This case has
been found in zoos in Hamburg, Germany, and New Delhi, India,"
Bambang said.

He said the worms only attacked carnivores and were not
dangerous to humans.

He said two other tigers and two lions were infected by the
worms, but they could be saved by administering Albendozole, a
medicine used to treat the parasite.

"We also doused the soil (where the worms were found) in the
animals' cages with an antiseptic solution and hot water to kill
any remaining worms," Bambang said at City Hall.

He said the bodies of the three-month-old white tiger cubs,
named Rano, Rani and Ranu, were being kept for further study.

Meanwhile, the zoo's deputy director, Abdullah Baab, said that
the zoo did not report the deaths of the tiger cubs to Governor
Sutiyoso.

"Our director had yet to report the deaths probably because he
has been busy," Abdullah said.

Zoo director Ismianto is in Australia attending a meeting of
the world's zoo directors.

Rano died on Aug. 21, Rani died on Aug. 27 and Ranu died the
following day.

Sutiyoso said that he was shocked to learn of the white tiger
cubs' deaths. He said that he had taken his daughter Reni to see
the tigers four times at the zoo.

The zoo, which received two white tigers from the United
States several years ago, had successfully bred the animals in
captivity.

Twelve white tigers still remain at the zoo.

Ismiati told The Jakarta Post on Friday that the tigers had
died of typhoid.