KARACHI: A rare African lion died at Karachi Zoo on Monday, officials said.
Zoo officials reported that the large cat passed away following a protracted illness.
Vets conducting a postmortem on the 18-year-old lion said that he died because he had lived too long.
The lion was about 18 years old, according to Raza Abbas Rizvi, senior director of the Karachi Zoo.
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According to Rizvi, lions of the same breed often live for 16 to 17 years, but the African lion survived a little while longer.
The zoo official said that while the lion died on Saturday, vets were still examining it to ascertain the reason for the death.
Sharing the results of the postmortem, the zoo official said that the lion had simply died of old age.
The official said that they could not detect any disease which could have led to the lion’s death.
According to experts, usually lions live in captivity for around 17-18 years.
The Karachi Zoo imported two pairs of African lions in 2010.
Of these, two lions of the same breed passed away in June and November last year.
Following the death of the second African lion in November, Karachi Administrator Murtaza Wahab had ordered an inquiry. Subsequently, the zoo’s director was removed. The lion was confiscated by customs officials in 2010 for violation of import policy and later, it was handed over to the Karachi Zoo
