A nine-year-old full-term pregnant tigress -- MT-4 -- died at Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve (MHTR) here on Thursday, officials said.

The tigress, which was pregnant with three cubs, was suffering from severe constipation and it died in the afternoon during treatment, they said.

T-4 was the only tigress at the reserve.

The tigress was claimed to be leading a healthy life with its last sighting of chasing a herd captured on April 27 in the reserve. However, it was first spotted dull in possible colic pain on April 29, following which a team of doctors from Ranthambore and Kota carried out round-the-clock thorough monitoring of the big cat the next day, on April 30. The doctors found that the tigress had severe constipation in colic and intestine and it was not able to release stool, the officials said.

The tigress was tranquilised on May 1 and administered enema. The doctors then evacuated two pieces of fecalith (stone-like hard stool) -- one of four-and-a-half inches and the other of two-and-a-half inches.

The doctors had also evacuated four-five pieces of fecalith on Thursday, the officials added.

The monitoring team at around 12.30 pm on Wednesday reported something hanging out of the tigress' anus, which was later through consultation with experts diagnosed as prolapse of rectum, generally found among cattle, they said.

On the recommendation of inserting the rectum and anus into its place in joint consultation with experts of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and doctors from Jaipur, Ranthambore and Kota, a team of doctors tranquillised the big cat at 8.54 am on Thursday morning for treatment, field director at MHTR Sharda Pratap Singh said.

The animal started gaining recovery and revived at 10.38 am. However, its respiration suddenly stopped and it died at around 1.15 pm on Thursday noon, he added. The tigress had deep hiccup thrice before its last breath.

"It is the first case of prolapse of rectum with a tiger in the country. We are the first one to report prolapse of rectum as it hardly is noticed," Singh claimed, adding it was dedicated monitoring as soon as the prolapsed of rectum with the tigress was noticed at around 12.30 pm on Wednesday.

Top wildlife experts of the country held joint discussion at 4.15 pm Wednesday to decide the course of action to treat and save the animal, he said.

On the direction of experts, the big cat was taken for X- Ray to find out the blockage in intestines earlier on Wednesday and it had to be done in the darkness of the forest with the help of a portable X-Ray machine running on generator and inverter lights, Singh said.

The postmortem report showed that the tigress was found full-term pregnant with three dead cubs in the womb, Dr Tejendra Riyad, one of the doctors of the team that conducted the autopsy on Thursday evening, said.

One uterine horn was found ruptured, wherein one fetus was stuck, the other fetus was in the abdomen cavity while the third one was in another horn intact. The fluid was filled in the abdomen cavity, he said, adding the tigress was going to deliver the cubs in the next few days.

"It is not the loss of one tigress, but four tigers in MHTR," he added.

Terming the sudden death of MT-4 as a major setback to MHTR and tourism in Hadouti, wildlife enthusiasts raised question over alleged infectious tigers from Ranthambore having been shifted to MHTR.

Veterinary doctors, at the time of the death of tigers in MHTR in 2020, had pointed at possible genetic infection in tigers in Ranthambore, wildlife enthusiast Brijesh Vijavergiya said, demanding an investigation into the aspect of genetic infection in tigers at Ranthambore.

The enthusiasts also hailed the intensive efforts by wildlife staff and doctors to try to save the MT-4.However, a wildlife official denied the possibility of genetic infection as a reason behind the death of the tigress.

Once there was a pair of a tiger with four cubs, but the pair died at intervals in 2020. A tiger is already missing from the reserve.

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