Superspecialty hospital to come up in Bengal's Sunderbans for Royal Bengal Tigers

Although the hospital is being built in a tiger rehabilitation centre, arrangements will be there to provide medical services to all kinds of animals, not only the Royal Bengal Tigers.

Kolkata (West Bengal): Royal Bengal Tigers, which are enlisted among the biggest wild cats alive, will now get special treatment. To protect them, the West Bengal forest department in collaboration with the state zoo authority will set up a superspeciality hospital in the Sunderbans along with an exclusive ward for Royal Bengal Tigers' treatment.

The authorities will set up the hospital at the Jharkhali Tiger Reserve in the Sunderbans under the Canning subdivision in South 24 Parganas district, according to sources from the Forest department. Although the hospital is being built in a tiger rehabilitation centre, arrangements will be there to provide medical services to all kinds of animals, not only the Royal Bengal Tigers.

The main building of the hospital has been completed. It is said that there are still many technological adjustments to be made. This super specialty hospital will have state-of-the-art facilities for various animals including tigers. Separate operation theatres will be made for animal and bird surgery.
This state-of-the-art medical centre has been named 'Tiger Referral Super Specialty Hospital'.

According to Forest Department sources, the list of all the medical equipment required for opening the hospital has already been sent to the state government. The list includes X-rays, ECG, Ultrasound machines, operation theatre equipment, and more advanced medical technology. The authorities are moving forward with the target of launching the hospital by the end of this year.

The West Bengal government has planned to build this super specialty hospital keeping in mind that other wild animals can be treated besides tigers and crocodiles of Sunderbans. The arrangements will be made to admit animals from any part of the country for medical services.

Currently, there are three tigers and 11 crocodiles in this rehabilitation centre in Sunderbans. There are plans to introduce a special type of 'Hydraulic Table' in the hospital for advanced treatment. The table can be moved easily, so that animals of any size can be accommodated there and given the necessary treatment.

A special type of ambulance is being arranged to bring animals from outside the hospital for treatment. According to initial planning, the hospital will have four doctors and one surgeon. Pathologists, pharmacists and other urgent posts will also be hired shortly. “The hospital will consist of sophisticated medical equipment, including X-ray and ultrasonography machines, among others. It will also have special hydraulic tables for facilitating the treatment of animals,” a forest department official confirmed.