An “old and ailing” tiger in the Sunderbans died while being taken to a medical camp by a team of foresters on Sunday.

A video shared by a forest official shows a guard pouring water into the mouth of the tiger — lying almost motionless on the ground — with his bare hands.

The tiger was first spotted near the Harikhali beat area of the Harindanga forest range, under the Sunderban Tiger Reserve, early on Saturday.

“The tiger looked extremely weak and ailing. On Sunday morning, it managed to reach near a water body but fell and could not get up,” said an official of the Sunderban Tiger Reserve.

The male tiger, aged around 12 years, died while being taken to the medical camp in Sajnekhali for treatment, said the official.

“It seems the tiger died of old age and frail health. A preliminary examination did not reveal any marks of injury or any other obvious reason for death,” he said.

A video, apparently shot a little while before the big cat died, has been shared widely on social media. It shows the tiger lying on the ground, surrounded by a group of people, with one of them trying to give the animal water.

Tigers have the largest canines of all big cat species and a single bite can be lethal. A swipe of a tiger’s paw can crush the skulls of creatures stronger than human beings.

But the forest guards surrounding the beast, especially the man pouring water into its mouth, seemed calm and composed. A voice in the video says: “Baagh er gaal e jol dichhi, ki soubhagya (I am pouring water into a tiger’s mouth. I am very lucky).”

V.K. Yadav, the chief wildlife warden of Bengal, said foresters in the Sunderbans have years of training in dealing with tigers.

“Our men had been tracking the tiger for close to 48 hours. We tried to feed it from a distance but it would not eat anything. Tranquilising old and weak animals is fraught with risk. A minor variation in the dose can turn fatal. Our men did the best that they could,” he said.