SGNP's star Yash who died of cancer was adopted by Aaditya Thackeray

Yash had been operated on twice for a growth on his face

The 12-year-old star of the Captive Tiger Safari at Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Yash, who has been undergoing treatment for cancer at SGNP, died on Wednesday. Yash had been adopted by Aaditya Thackeray, son of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray a few years back under the animal adoption programme at SGNP.

Yash is the second captive tiger at Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) to have died in the last four months. A few months back, the last white tiger at the park, famously know as Bajirao, died of old age.

In 2014, Aaditya had adopted a five-year-old tiger at SGNP. His younger brother Tejas has adopted two rusty spotted cats. Chief Conservator of Forest and SGNP Director Anwar Ahmed said, "We are saddened to inform that 12-year-old tiger Yash, who was undergoing treatment for a rare type of cancer, died on Tuesday at 5.45 pm. The doctors treating him made their best efforts to save the tiger but he unfortunately died as his health had deteriorated."

Yash had been operated on twice in the past year for a growth on the face. He was last operated on in March this year. Dr. Shailesh Pethe, veterinary officer at SGNP, said, "Yash was a huge tiger but his health had badly deteriorated and he had lost a lot of weight because of cancer. Yash was attended to by the best veterinarian team, including experts from Bombay Veterinary College, but he could not be saved. It's a personal loss for all of us."

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