Raju the old lion to roar no more

Karachi
Raju, one of the oldest big cats at the Karachi Zoo, died at the age of 23 on Friday.
The male lion was donated to the zoo by the Habib Oil Mills in 2005. It was around 12 or 13 years old at that time.
Aqeel Tazeem Naqvi, the zoo’s additional director, said Raju was treated well, kept in a suitable environment and given proper, timely meals.
“That’s why the lion lived so long. Otherwise, the average age of this species is around 18 years,” he added.
Raju was never paired as it had arrived late at the zoo and lived alone in its cage.
“The vets have prepared a detailed postmortem report that shows that the lion died at about 9am,” said Naqvi.
“The lion’s teeth had started falling out sometime ago and that’s why it was unable to eat properly,” he added.
“A panel of doctors had tried its best to keep it healthy through medicines and diet.”
After the autopsy, the skin of the big cat was preserved and placed at the zoo’s museum.
The official said presently there were two lion pairs at the zoo and one each of Bengal tigers, white lions and the North American pumas.
The female puma had given birth to three cubs two months ago, one which had died. Last year, it had given birth to one cub.

Medical report
The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation administrator ordered the zoo administration to submit to him a medical report on the lion’s expiry.
Saqib Ahmed Soomro also directed the zoo officials to submit to him a report on the medical treatment given to the animal so that any negligence or carelessness in the case could be ascertained.