The leopard, Lincon, being taken for cremation. Telegraph picture

Sambalpur, April 19: The lone leopard of the Wild Animal Conservation Centre, which has attained the status of a zoo, died early morning today.

The zoo authority said the 15-year-old leopard, Lincon, died because of old age. “The average life span of leopard is 12 to 14 years. The leopard, which died, was aged about 15 years,” said Sudeep Nayak, forest officer of the Hirakud Wild Life Division.

“The leopard had stopped taking food since yesterday. We had also administered saline liquid. The leopard was under the treatment of specialist doctors from Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology. However, it died early in the morning today,” said Nayak.

Dr Indramani Nath of Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology and Dr Khirod Patel of the Wild Animal Conservation Centre were treating the leopard. The post-mortem of the leopard was carried out in presence of the regional chief conservator of forest Sisir Kumar Acharya and other senior forest officials.

After the autopsy, the leopard was cremated on the premises of the zoo, spread across 13.16 hectares.

The authority of the Wild Animal Conservation Centre said Lincon was a major crowd-puller of the zoo. “The leopard was rescued from the Rairakhol forest area on February 4, 1999, when it was only two months old. It was kept at the centre and has been attracting wildlife lovers since then,” said range officer in charge of the centre Madan Lal Sharma.

“We will request the central zoo authority to provide us another leopard for this zoo in Sambalpur,” said Sharma.

The leopard’s death has also caused grief among the zoo employees. “Lincon was only two months old when it was brought to this zoo. I had been taking care of the leopard since then. However, the enclosure, where the Lincon was staying, is lying empty now,” said the grieved caretaker of Lincon, Gokula Sandha.