Forest department officials wait as a team of doctors examines tiger at Bhagvan Birsa Munda Biological Park at Ormanjhi. Picture by Hardeep Singh

Ranchi, July 11: Babesiosis, a deadly disease that has struck the big cat family, has killed a tiger and a leopard, while afflicting a tigress, Basanti, in Ranchi zoo. But the good news is that their feline sibling, white tiger Prakash, is showing signs of improvement from the disease.

Bhagvan Birsa Munda Biological Park director Deepak Singh said a team of experts was doing round-the-clock treatment of the tigress suffering from the Babesiosis, but her condition was still critical.

Singh said a noted veterinary doctor, Abhijeet Biswas, arrived this morning and is camping at the zoo to supervise the treatment of the animals.

A former vet of Calcutta zoo, Biswas is now associated with Rourkela zoo.

Biswas was also on the panel of doctors who treated tigers when the same disease had struck the Nandankanan sanctuary in Orissa a few years ago.

Blood reports of only two tigers have tested positive to Babesiosis, but all the big cats were kept inside their cages as a precautionary measure. Prescribed disinfectants are being sprayed to keep the disease from taking the form of an epidemic, he said.

Besides other animals, the zoo has two tigers, four tigresses, 10 lions and a leopard.

Ranchi Veterinary College has constituted a team of vets to investigate and treat the cats, Singh said. The team comprises Dr. K.D. Prasad, S. Haque, Dr. Yadav, Dr. Arya and Dr. M.K. Gupta.

?The team is also on the job and we are giving all the necessary support,? Singh said, adding that the chief wildlife warden and other senior forests officials were also camping on the zoo premises.

He said that last year 13 animals, including a peacock, had died, but all were natural deaths. ?We have a permanent veterinary doctor and also other resources,? he added.