Bhubaneswar: The cub born to white tigress Mousumi at Nandankanan Zoological Park (NZP) in Odisha capital here died today.

The white tigress had delivered three cubs, including two stillborns, prematurely on July 27. Initially, Mousumi took care of the lone alive cub. But, she later abandoned the cub, said the zoo authorities in a statement.

Employees of the zoo rescued the abandoned cub immediately and shifted it to the Hand Rearing Centre of NZP for bottle feeding.

“The cub was kept inside the ICU of neonatal care ward. But, the cub suffered from enteric infection and succumbed to death today,” added the zoo authorities.

Mousumi had conceived after successful mating with normal-coloured tiger Rajesh in April this year. The expected date of delivery of the tigress was August 8. But, it delivered prematurely on July 29.

Notably, Mousumi was born to tiger Manish and tigress Sneha at NZP in 2016. Despite reaching the age of eight, all of Mousumi’s previous mating attempts had been unsuccessful in producing viable offspring.