BHUBANESWAR: Once its pride, the lions of Nandankanan Zoological Park are now old and not multiplying anymore.Reasons big enough for the animal park to worry.About 15 years ago, the scenario was just the opposite. In 1995-96, the Zoo had as many as 54 lions which became a headache for the authorities so far as their accommodation and management were concerned. Now it is struggling to keep the lion population floating. So much so that Zoo authorities are planning to get a few pairs from Gujarat.From problems of plenty to a crisis of a few. The lion population in the premier Zoo has dropped to 16 which includes 10 male and six female ones.And what is worrying is most of these felines are old and past their breeding age. “Barely about 25 per cent of the lion population is in the age group of 10 to 15 years. The rest are old and approaching senility when they must be given a rest from breeding,” said sources.The last lion born in the Zoo was in 2004, officials pointed out. The Zoo has been trying to pair the existing ones but in vain. In the two years - 2004 and 2005 - as many as 10 cubs were born. None of them survived beyond six months.Severe inbreeding was stated to be the cause of weak litter.Spread over 20 hectare, the Lion Safari of the Zoo, which opened in 1984, predominantly had hybrid lions, a cross between the African and the Asiatic lions. The first decade was a success and by 1995-96, the population became so huge that management problems cropped up.“We started offering the lions for free to other zoos, nothing in exchange.All they had to do was to arrange logistics and take lions for free but none came forward. That is when the sterilisation plans were mooted,” said an officer who was with the Zoo for several years. The technical committee, which advised population control, first suggested that the males and females be separated but it did not work fully because releasing only males or females into the safari did invite criticism from the visitors.The Zoo authorities tried sterilisation through a drug called “Talsur” which is primarily used on dogs. The males started losing their masculinity; some of them even lost their mane. It had to be stopped. A few months after Super Cyclone, which left the park ravaged, the Zoo was hit by a tiger tragedy in June, 2000, when about a dozen tigers fell prey to Trypanosomiasis.Under pressure to control population of the felines, vasectomy was the only option left. The Zoo went in for sterilisation of almost all breeding males whose number was close to two dozens. A few juveniles were spared while the animal park also gave away close to half a dozen lions to other zoos for free. A decade later, it is facing a peculiar situation. “Most of them are not in their breeding age. We have been trying different combinations by pairing the relatively younger males with the females. So far, it has not worked,” said Dr Sudarshan Panda, Director of Nandankanan Zoological Park.Talks are on with chief wildlife warden of Gujarat for securing a few pairs, Panda said and added similar process is on with Hyderabad and Chennai zoos.
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