India, Nov. 27 -- The Byculla Zoo on November 17 lost one of its three Royal Bengal Tigers, Shakti, a fact that came to light on Wednesday and led to charges of negligence and a "suspicious" death. The 9.6-year-old tiger had shown no symptoms till two days before his death due to pneumonia-triggered respiratory failure as per the preliminary autopsy report.

Shakti is survived by his mate Karishma, a female Royal Bengal Tiger who came along with him to the Mumbai zoo on February 12, 2020. The pair had two cubs-Jay and Rudra-on November 4, 2022. While Rudra passed away a while ago, Jay recently celebrated his third birthday.

"Shakti's death came as a shock," said zoo director Sanjay Tripathi. "The Friday before his death, he was on displa...