Pride in peril: Lions at Nandankanan zoo

Bhubaneswar, May 22: A 20-year-old male lion died at Nandankanan Zoological Park on Monday evening. This is the third incident this year of a lion dying in the zoo.

The lion was found dead at the lion safari on Monday evening. Sources at the zoo said the lion was elderly and was continuously on vitamins for the last three months. A post-mortem was conducted and the report revealed that the lion died of old age.

“The average life span of a lion is 16 to 18 years. This lion has lived longer than the average life span. It died of old-age related complaints,” said zoo director Sudarshan Panda.

The lion population in the zoo has come down to 12 with this death. Sources at the zoo said 80 per cent of the remaining lion population, which includes six males and six females, are elderly. With a restriction on zoo breeding of lions imposed by the central Zoo Authority of India, the Nandankanan authorities are concerned about the decrease in the lion population. “Earlier, we had planned to bring a lion under the animal exchange programme from Junagadh zoo, but we failed to do so because of some problems,” said a senior zoo official.

On January 3, 20-year-old lion Khandi had died at the zoo of a tumour in its liver. On May 15, seven-year-old lion Kunal had also died of a chronic disease.

The animal lovers in the city expressed deep concern over the recent death.

“The death of animals has become a regular affair at the zoo. Every time a death of animal takes place, the zoo authorities attribute the death to age. The zoo authorities must ensure better health facilities to minimise incidents of animal death in captive condition,” said an animal activist in the city.

The zoo has been under severe criticism since the death of five newborn tiger cubs on November 18 last year. The state government had even ordered for a probe into the deaths.

However, the zoo director said utmost care was being taken of the animals. “We have better health facilities at the zoo and the overall mortality rate of animals at the zoo is low compared to other zoos in the country,” said Panda. Sources at the zoo said the mortality rate at the zoo stood at 3.2 per cent this year against 3 per cent last year.