After undergoing surgery and chemotherapy to fight cancer, white tigress Rebecca relapsed recently, revealed authorities from the national park, adding that she is now starting to recover again
Sanjay Gandhi National Park’s sole white tigress, Rebecca, who has been undergoing treatment for cancer recently suffered a relapse. The tigress has been unwell since last week and had even stopped eating for a few days, causing great concern to the park authorities, who are now keeping a close watch on her.
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18-year-old Rebecca is the national park’s only white tigress. She was diagnosed with melanoma, a type of skin cancer, in her eye. File pic
The 18-year-old Rebecca was diagnosed with melanoma (a kind of skin cancer) in her eye, and had undergone surgery and chemotherapy for it (‘White tigress Rebecca clears first step in battle against cancer’, mid-day, April 17).
“We have already completed five chemotherapy sessions with Rebecca and it was after the fourth session that we observed that her melanoma has relapsed. We are taking all the necessary measures to see to it that she recovers soon,” said Sanjeev Pinjarkar, the veterinarian at the park.
The authorities were alarmed when she stopped eating last week, but took immediate action to put her back on course. “We were in tension after she stopped eating and to ensure that her health does not deteriorate further, the authorities even put her on IV treatment, to which she responded well.
She was also given a tonic as an additional supplement. In the last two days, she has started eating beef and chicken again, and her health is fine now,” added Pinjarkar.