Sayajbaug zoo loses its ‘lion king’

According to zoo officials, Kunwar breathed his last at 7.09 pm on Friday due to age-related issues.

Zoo curator Pratyush Patankar said, “Kunwar was 15 and had slowed down for a few weeks. He had age-related digestive issues and was surviving on lean meats on alternate days for a few days… He had even stopped roaring much. In fact, it was during Diwali that we last heard him roar after a long gap. On Friday evening, as we saw the signs that we were going to lose him, we gathered around him and he saw each one of his keepers and slowly closed his eyes. It is with a very heavy heart that we bid him a goodbye but we are also glad that he departed in peace, without any medical ailments.”

Kunwar was cremated on Friday night by the zoo authorities in line with the guidelines of the Central Zoo Authority.

Last year on November 21, Kunwar’s partner Gayle had passed away after sustaining injuries on her neck and subsequently going into renal failure following three weeks of treatment.

The male lion Samrat, who passed away on September 23, had also developed chronic kidney failure according to authorities, leading to sudden and rapid deterioration. The zoo now has a surviving lioness Samriddhi, who was Samrat’s mate.