The sight of a solitary lion lounging in one corner of the 18-acre Lion Safari at Chattbir Zoo, located on the outskirts of Chandigarh, sums up the state of affairs inside.

Once a delightful experience for visitors, India’s largest fenced zoological park now sports a deserted look.

For long having served as home to over a hundred big cats, today their number has fallen to 11, most of them aged and ailing.

The zoo, spread over 505 hectares, houses several rare species including white tigers, horned antelopes, a lion-tailed macaque and a jaguar.

Dying animals

The incidents of animals dying have become far too frequent in the recent past raising questions about the prevailing state of affairs in the zoo.

On Sunday, a tigress was found dead in its enclosure. A few months ago, an ailing old Asian lion breathed his last.

In September 2006, two Royal Bengal white tigers died one after the other due to a parasite infection.

The decline has largely been attributed to inbreeding — a practice that was overlooked by officials when the lion population was swelling at the zoo. “Inbreeding eventually led to biological deformities in several lions. It was then decided to sterilise the entire lot to prevent further damage,” said a zoo official.

Chief Wildlife Warden of Punjab, M P Rai, said: “Mortality is a natural phenomenon. Most of the lions were aged and had lived their life. The death of a few was the fallout of inbreeding.”

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