Tirupati: Twenty-three-year-old female lioness Seetha, cited as among the oldest, breathed her last at the Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park in Tirupati on Friday after battling a prolonged age-related illness.
According to zoo curator C Selvam, Seetha's body was found lifeless early on Friday morning. Despite modifications to her diet in recent days, her condition deteriorated as she stopped eating.
Seetha was among the 82 lions relocated from a circus company to the SV Zoo in 2001-2002. Most of her companions died over the years, but she was among the three lions that lived over two decades here.
Very few lions surpass the age of 20 years, which exceeds the maximum natural age of a lion.
She battled health complications including a tumour and other age-related ailments. The lion's demise has left caretakers and animal lovers mourning the loss of a majestic creature. Its roar will be missed within the zoo premises.
A post-mortem is being conducted to determine the exact cause of her demise.
"Seetha was brought to SV Zoo from a circus along with 81 other lions in 2001-2002. We had her under regular medical care and even modified her diet. But she stopped eating some days ago," Selvam told Deccan Chronicle. The caretakers were giving her soups, but she didn't consume that either.
Experts say the average lifespan of a feline bred in captivity rarely exceeds 18 to 20 years, while in the wild, it ranges between 12 to 16 years. Seetha joins the ranks of other long-lived lions such as Raja, who lived until age 30 in a rescue centre in Bandhavgarh; and Badshah, who lived till age 28 in the Jaipur Zoo and passed away in 2014. At Nandan Van Zoo in Raipur, another lion named Raja lived 25 years before dying in 2016.
