Fact Check: Was Raja the oldest living tiger in captivity?

New Delhi, July 15: Raja, the 25 year old Bengal tiger passed away on July 11 at the Khairbari Rescue Centre in north Bengal. Following this tributes poured in and many on the social media claimed that the 25 years and 10 month old tiger was the oldest living tiger in captivity.

Many media outlets too carried reports that Raja was the oldest living tiger in captivity. OneIndia has however learnt that Raja was not the oldest living tiger in captivity.
When we searched for the oldest living tiger in captivity in the world, we stumbled upon the website of the Guinness Book of World Records which says that the oldest living tiger in captivity is at Texas, United States of America.

The website says, 'The oldest living tiger in captivity is Bengali (b. 31 August 1995) who is 25 years and 319 days old and lives in Tiger Creek Animal Sanctuary (USA) in Tyler, Texas, USA, as verified on 16 July 2021.' Bengali was donated to the sanctuary in 2000, the website also said.

Bengali officially became the oldest living tiger in the world at the age of 25 years and 319 days on February 14 2021. He would become 27 on August 31 this year. Hence it becomes clear that the claim that Raja was the oldest living Royal Bengal tiger in captivity is not correct. The oldest living tiger is Bengali and he lives at the Tiger Creek Animal Sanctuary in Texas.