SC asks Centre about steps to protect tigers

new delhi: the supreme court on monday asked the union government to inform it within 10 days about its strategy to preserve and protect the tiger population in the country. shocked at the death of 13 tigers in orissa's nandan kanan zoo, a bench, comprising chief justice a s anand, had earlier said: ``what happened in nandan kanan zoo is very serious.'' solicitor-general harish n salve and additional solicitor-general kirit rawal said the centre had already given guidelines to states on protection of animals in zoos and added that ``tragedies like the one in the orissa zoo occurred when the guidelines were not followed''.salve said prima facie it appeared that the deaths in nandan kanan happened due to ``overcrowding of the canines after they were afflicted with a disease''. once the tigers were diseased and then huddled together, the animals lost their physical will to resist the disease, salve said, adding, ``stress is a very major factor as far as the animals kept in captivity'' are concerned. if the authorities had followed the centre's guidelines, the tragedy could have been averted, he said. at an earlier hearing of the pil by environmentalist naveen m raheja seeking protection to wildlife, the court had indicated that it would have to ``address the larger issue of protecting the tiger population not only in forests but also in zoos''. it is bad enough that these tigers died while in the protective custody of the zoo, the cji had said.