White Tiger Cub Dies Of Kidney Failure At The Night Safari

Pluang, the 8 month old female white tiger cub at the Chiang Mai Night Safari has died of kidney failure, Narong Tananuwat, Managing Director of Chiang Mai Night Safari announced November 13.

The white tigers at the Chiang Mai Night Safari

Chatree Koohateparak, head of the Veterinary Department and Naratip Worawattanatam, assistant head of the Veterinary Department said that Chiang Mai University's Veterinary Center did the autopsy on the rare tiger cub. They hope to investigate further into the cause of death to find the contributing factors to the cub's illness and subsequent death. They reported that Pan, Pluang's brother, is currently in poor health, receiving medical attention while his condition is being constantly monitored.

Prasert Niamjan, the animals' caretaker, reported that white tigers often need special care. Because white tigers are so rare in the wild the breeding pool has been limited to the small number of white tigers in captivity. Interbreeding among the tigers often leads to genetic defects.

Narong Tananuwat accompanied the press to visit Henry, one of 7 white tiger cubs in the Chiang Mai Night Safari. He was photographed bottle feeding the tiger cub at the Photo Corner at the Night Safari.

-- Chiang Mai Mail 2009/11/24

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