Bhubaneswar, Oct. 3: A 22-year-old male Asiatic lion died this morning of old age at Nandankanan Zoological Park in the state capital, in the fourth such incident this year. The lion had not been keeping well for the past two years and was suffering from paralysis.

Zoo officials said the animal had aged well beyond the average lifespan of lions, which is 16 to 18 years. “The lion had been very ill for a long time and was undergoing treatment. This morning, we found him dead at the feeding chamber near the lion safari,” said a zoo official, adding that the lion was born at Nandankanan in January 1990.

The post-mortem report revealed that the death took place because of old age-related ailments. “He was so sick that he was unable to eat buffalo meat. So, we used to feed him boneless chicken,” said the official.

The lion population in the zoo has fallen to 11. Now, there are five male and six female lions, most of them old. Since the Central Zoo Authority of India has imposed restrictions on breeding of lions in the zoo, authorities said they were trying to procure a pair of lions under the animal exchange programme. “We are trying to get a lion pair from the Junagarh Zoo. The Gujarat government has already approved the exchange,” said director of Nandankanan Zoo Sudarshan Panda.

Sources at the zoo said efforts were also on to get a pair of lions from Africa. “The top authorities are interested to get younger lions. Four deaths in a year and the ageing lion population in the zoo have raised serious concerns,” a source said.

On January 3, a 21-year-old lion had died at the zoo of a tumour in liver. Two more deaths were reported in May, within a space of just seven days, in which the animals had succumbed to chronic illness. Animal lovers expressed concern over the upkeep of animals in the zoo and said the authorities must ensure that the best of health facilities were made available to prevent casualties in future.

Panda, however, said proper health services were in place and the mortality rate of animals at Nandankanan vis-à-vis other zoos in the country was low. Official records suggested the mortality rate at the zoo was 3.2 per cent this year against 3 per cent last year.