Doctors at the Maharajbagh Zoo here carried out blood transfusion on an ailing tiger cub, which along with his sibling, was rescued early this month. This is probably the first time that a tiger was undergone blood transfusion.

“The cub has been ailing for the past few days. Today, I got a distress call from zoo veterinary doctor S S Bawiskar that the cub is very low on haemoglobin and in a critical condition. I called up Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SNGP) Field Director Munde and asked him the arrange for blood from the tigers in the zoo.

Within two hours, blood was collected from the SGNP tigers by the veterinary doctor there, who immediately flew into the city with it,” Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) B Majumdar told The Indian Express.

Late on Sunday, transfusion was done on the seven-month old female cub.

The cub was one of two rescued from the clutches of villagers on November 3. They were immediately brought to the Maharajbagh Zoo. Incidentally, the other cubs is in fine shape.

A close-circuit camera has been installed in the cage so that doctors can monitor the health of the cubs round-the-clock.