Chhatbir’s Rocky won''t roar anymore

Satinder Pal Singh

Zirakpur, January 16

The oldest lion of Mahendra Chaudhry Zoological Park died yesterday.

According to sources at Chhat Bir Zoo, the 25-year-old lion, popularly known as Rocky, was given a tearful adieu by the zoo authorities, who claimed that Rocky was one of the few lions who reached up to the age of 25.

The sources said Rocky had reached the highest life expectancy for Asiatic lions and died a peaceful death.

Rocky’s death came as a shock for animal lovers. The sources said Rocky’s last movement was noticed at 4 pm yesterday when he blinked his eyes. After that, he never woke up, said the guards who were monitoring him round the clock.

Zoo Director Manish Kumar claimed that though the normal life span of a lion was between 16 and 18 years, Rocky survived for 25 years owing to proper care and food provided by the zoo authorities.

He said the animal had gone off feed for the past three days and was on supportive treatment. Manish Kumar said Rocky was the last specimen of the Asiatic-African hybrid lion collection of the zoo.

The postmortem of Rocky was conducted in the presence of zoo officials and the animal was cremated on the zoo premises.

The sources said the postmortem report revealed that the animal died due to chronic senile changes.