One of the worst fears of a team of veterinarians treating Yash, the 11-year-old captive Royal Bengal Tiger, from Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) in Mumbai since almost a year came true early this week. The tiger which has been the star attraction at the tiger safari for long has been diagnosed with an extremely rare form of cancer.

Incidentally, Yash was also the first tiger to be adopted under the animal adoption scheme run by SGNP. It was in 2014 that Yuva Sena Chief Aditya Thackeray had adopted Yash (five years old then), however according to the forest department, the adoption tenure ended in July 2016, after which it was not renewed.

The tiger was operated twice for a growth on its face in last year- the latest being in March 2019. “Yash has been detected with an embryonal type rhabdomyosarcoma, which is a type of cancer affecting the skeletal muscles. In my several years of experience I have not seen such a case in any animal so far and also not heard of this cancer affecting any big cat or other animals in India so there are high possibilities that this could be the first detected case of rhabdomyosarcoma in the country,” said Dr Shailesh Pethe, Veterinary Officer for SGNP.

Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a type of sarcoma made up of cells that normally develop into skeletal (voluntary) muscles that are controlled to move parts of the body.

It took almost a month of research and extensive work by the Pathology team from Mumbai Veterinary College to finally diagnose Yash early this week.

According to Pethe, he and a team of consulting Vets including senior veterinary surgeon Dr CC Wakankar, Dr Manish Pingle and others who were treating the tiger were shocked by seeing the rapid weight loss of the big cat in a month’s time post-surgery in March.

“We knew something was wrong but the condition could not be diagnosed, however it was after a lot of efforts and research put in by the team at Veterinary College, the pathologists while carrying out the straining process detected it to be rhabdomyosarcoma. The samples have also been sent for further tests to various labs for confirmation,” Pethe informed, adding that a normal tiger in captivity can weigh around 200 to 250 kg but Yash now weighs just around 130 kg.

At present, Yash is only eating a limited amount of buffalo beef and chicken. Meanwhile, further treatment will be challenging for the team of Vets as the tiger cannot be given radiations given the fact that it’s too weak. The team is exploring the possibilities of injecting anti-cancer drugs as well.