(India) Lions dying in Indian zoo after failed experiment

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Lions dying in Indian zoo after failed experiment

 

By Palash Kumar

Reuters

Sunday, September 17, 2006; 3:30 AM

 

CHANDIGARH, India (Reuters) - Twenty-one lions are

dying in a zoo in north India after a cross-breeding

experiment to boost the park's attractions went

disastrously wrong.

 

In the 1980s officials at the Chhatbir Zoo in the

northern city of Chandigarh, bred captive Asiatic

lions with a pair of African circus animals, resulting

in a hybrid species.

 

Within a few years it became obvious it had not

worked.

 

The offspring found it hard to walk, let alone run,

because their hind legs were weak. And by the mid

1990s the big cats -- which live for up to 20 years in

captivity -- showed symptoms of failing immune

systems.

 

But it wasn't until 2000 that the breeding program was

ended, and the male lions given vasectomies, by which

time the zoo had 70 to 80 such lions.

 

Their number dwindled slowly, with disease killing

some and some dying of wounds inflicted by other

lions.

 

Authorities say they are waiting for the population to

" phase out " before they can start breeding pure

Asiatic lions.

 

" But the effort here is to help them die with

dignity, " said Dharminder Sharma, a senior zoo

official. " We give them all the facilities to live a

happy life in their last years. Some of the old lions

are even given boneless meat. "

 

Last year the zoo opened a special enclosure, away

from the main exhibit area, where it keeps lions who

have become too feeble to defend themselves.

 

It has been dubbed an " old age home " for lions.

 

Ailing Lakshmi and Lajwanti now live in these sheds,

which have a small caged courtyard.

 

Both are hybrid and are extremely weak. They can

barely stand up or walk. Their only activity is a

small but painful walk to eat their meals. However, if

challenged, they can still muster a spine-chilling

roar.

 

In August, Lakshmi stopped eating. Doctors at the zoo

put her on a drip and fed her glucose through water.

 

" Those were nervous times for us, " said Sharma.

 

" We tried very hard to keep her alive and eventually

succeeded when she slowly started to eat ... Even if

they are meant to die, it doesn't meant we kill them

by not treating them, " he added.

 

Asiatic lions are found only in India and, at present,

there are about 300 of them in the Gir national park

in the western state of Gujarat.

 

In the mid-20th century, their numbers were less then

15 as they were vigorously hunted by the Maharajas and

princes for whom the majestic animal was the most

coveted game. The population recovered after a

breeding program launched in the Gir sanctuary in the 1960s.