Byculla zoo lioness dies

Anita, a 22-year-old lioness in the Byculla zoo, died on Saturday

Anita, a 22-year-old lioness in the Byculla zoo, died on Saturday.

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Anita, an Asiatic breed female lioness, died due to multiple organ failure. “In the last few days of illness her condition had worsened mainly due to old age. She was being fed liquid as she had stopped eating solid food for a very long time,” said Dr Sanjay Tripathi, veterinarian of the zoo.

Her body was sent for taxidermy to Gaikwad but was returned. Taxidermy is the art of mounting or reproducing dead animals for display or for other sources of study. “Taxidermy was not possible because her skin had lost elasticity and she had lost lot of body hair,” said an zoo official.

Anita’s body was kept in deep freeze in the Borivili National Park on Sunday after it was rejected by Dr Gaikwad. Post mortem was conducted by the zoo veterinary doctors on Monday.

Anita was brought to the zoo from Gujarat in 1991 when she was three years old.

“We will miss her. Whenever we passed by her and not call her, she would growl as if she was seeking attention,” said Anita’s keeper.