Only female dhole dies in Delhi Zoo

New Delhi, Mar 19 (PTI) A nine-year-old female dhole brought to the Delhi Zoo for breeding purposes died on Wednesday, leaving just the solitary male wild dog in the zoo, officials said.
     Zoo officials said that the cause of death remains unknown.
     The dhole, a wild canid species native to Southeast Asia and known for its fox-like features, was brought to Delhi Zoo from Vizag in 2019 as part of an animal exchange programme.
     “A female wild dog, Macchali, aged nine-plus years, died on Wednesday while undergoing treatment. A postmortem will be conducted, and samples will be sent to the lab for analysis,” said Delhi Zoo director Sanjeet Kumar.
     He added that the range in-charge has been instructed to submit a detailed report on the incident.    
     In the wild, dholes typically live for 10 to 13 years, though they can survive up to 16 years in captivity.
     This latest death follows the recent loss of a 15-year-old female leopard named Babli, which died on February 26 due to age-related complications. The zoo now houses two male leopards and one remaining female.
     Amid the string of animal deaths, the zoo announced earlier this month that it would soon welcome new arrivals, including two smooth-coated otters-- a species last seen at the zoo in 2004 -- from Surat Zoo by the end of March.
     Additionally, the zoo will receive 10 star tortoises as part of an exchange programme, in which five Sangai deer, two blue-and-yellow macaws and four green-cheeked conures will be sent to Surat Zoo in return.
     The Delhi Zoo is home to 95 species of animals and birds and regarded as a ‘model zoo’ for the country.
     February also saw the deaths of a 15-year-old nilgai on February 13 and a 22-year-old jaguar on February 19 -- both succumbing to age-related illnesses despite being under treatment.
     Earlier this year, on January 25, a female Sangai deer died after a fight with a male counterpart, while another nilgai sustained injuries from a separate fight the same month.
     On January 2, a one-horned rhinoceros named Dharmendra, brought from Assam Zoo died under unclear circumstances. Before that on December 28, a nine-month-old white tiger cub died from “traumatic shock and acute pneumonia.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)