Fabulous five: The gharial hatchlings bask in the sun at Bhagwan Birsa Biological Park in Ormanjhi, Ranchi, on Saturday. Picture by Prashant Mitra

What began as a bountiful week for Bhagwan Birsa Biological Park with the birth of five baby gharials, ended on a tragic note on Saturday night with the zoo in Ormanjhi losing one of its three male leopards, adored as Raja (the king) for his majestic moves.

According to zoo vet Ajay Kumar, the Schedule-I animal (under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972) succumbed to age — Raja was all of 17 — and an acute digestion problem he had developed five years ago.

“In early 2008, he showed first signs of digestive distress, which is a problem that often comes with age in wild animals. By June-July that year, Raja’s ailment became chronic and he was put under special care,” Kumar said, adding that on June 20 this year, the distress relapsed. “Last evening, the situation went out of hand… we lost our Raja.”

Birsa zoo director A.K. Patra said the leopard’s death had numbed them with grief. Patra recalled what a frolicking feline Raja was when he first came to the Ormanjhi-based zoo, some 15km from Ranchi, in 1998. “Raja was brought from Patna zoo. He was barely two… and oh, what a majestic creature he was!”

The average life expectancy of leopards (Panthera pardus), listed as “near threatened” by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), is 17 years in captivity. Although, the oldest recorded leopard was a female named Bertie. She died at Warsaw zoo in Poland in December 2010 at the age of 24. The oldest recorded male leopard was Cezar (23). He too lived at Warsaw zoo and was Bertie’s lifelong companion.

According to vet Kumar, the India leopard (Panthera pardus fusca) has a lower life span of up to 15 years in captivity. “Raja was an exception. He lived to be 17. We were all emotionally attached to him,” he said.

With the king dead, the 250-acre Birsa zoo is now left with four leopards — two males and two females.

The week had, however, begun on a happier note for Patra, Kumar and their team.

“Since the zoo came into existence in 1994, it saw the first successful birth of gharials. Five hatchlings were spotted in the reptile enclosure five days ago. The babies are hale and hearty — they are crawling on the sand, swimming in the waters and riding on the back of the adults,” said the vet.

For the safety of the gharials — listed as “critically endangered” by IUCN — zoo caretakers have covered the enclosure with a net. “The babies are vulnerable, soft targets for birds of prey. Though we don’t see many eagles or vultures around, it is better to be safe than sorry,” Kumar said, adding that a trained caretaker had also been deputed to keep tabs on the behaviour of the hatchlings.

Birsa zoo has two female gharials (Gavialis gangeticus) and one male. The zoo authorities are, however, yet to find out who the mother is since the adults are “collectively protective” right now.

Also Schedule-I animals, the life span of gharials is high — up to 50 years — but they have peculiar sexual maturity. While females are ready to mate by the time they are six to eight years old, males reach their puberty at 15.

The zoo vet maintained that the normal mating season is between January and March. “It is difficult to say why mating didn’t take place in the past. But, we had made some adjustments in the enclosure this year, like fluffing up the sand bed. Maybe, that did the trick,” Kumar smiled.

Did you see Raja in happier times?

Tell ttkhand@abpmail.com