Chhatbir loses its lone lion to illness

The only male lion at Chhatbir Zoo, Yuvraj, passed away on Monday. He was 11

The only male lion at Chhatbir Zoo, Yuvraj, passed away on Monday. He was 11.

He showed signs of convulsions and discharge from mouth before his death, said an official privy to the development. According to the preliminary postmortem findings, the tentative cause of death was acute respiratory distress. Samples of visceral organs and abdominal contents have been sent for detailed investigations.

The zoo now has three lionesses, though it is planning to get a pair of lions each from Rajkot Zoo and Indore Zoo. All permissions are in place and only the date of transportation is to be fixed, said an official.

Yuvraj was born in August 2008 and was acquired from Junagarh Zoo. The animal had clinical history with nervous disorders in intervals for the past three years.

“He had first suffered paralysis in 2015, then again in 2016. In June 2019, he suffered paralysis but had recovered though used to limp a bit,” said sources in the zoo.

Based on the request of the zoo administration, an expert team from the Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Bareilly, UP, visited the zoo on July 18 to guide the veterinary wing regarding the lion’s critical care. Yuvraj responded to the treatment and recovered in July last week.

“On Monday around 6:20am, Yuvraj showed epileptic seizures. The veterinary and zoo Team reached the spot and started the procedures. But, after a brief period of laboured breathing, there was no movement and breathlessness even after repeated stimulus to evoke response. Yuvraj was declared dead at 7:30 am,” said a statement issued by the zoo authorities.

On receiving the information, wildlife officials arrived at the zoo to take stock of the situation. A panel of veterinarians, which included an expert team from Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana, conducted the postmortem.