Jimmy, the only lioness at the Mumbai’s Veermata Jijabai Bhonsale Udyan (Byculla Zoo), died after a bout of prolonged illness on Monday. She was the last of the big cats at the Byculla Zoo with the others having already succumbed to old age or illness.
Jimmy, who was 16 years and 8 months, was born at the zoo, one of India's oldest, in March 1998 to Anita, who passed away three years ago, at the age of 22. The average life span of lioness is 18 to 20 years.
Zoo authorities had shifted Jimmy in the zoo hospital in December 2012, where she was under treatment for paralysis of both hind limbs because of which she had been unable to walk. She also suffers with osteoarthritis.
Veterinarians from Parel’s Bombay Veterinary College and Byculla zoo were treating Jimmy, who was a hybrid breed (African-Asiatic). The ailing lioness, had suffered two cardiac arrests recently -- one major, and the second minor. "She needs to consume 20 tablets a daily to stay fit. She is 16 years old and gets nervous when she sees any visitor and, hence, she cannot be kept in a cage," a veterinary doctor from the zoo had told mid-day earlier.
Jimmy had been showing positive response to medicine since the last 3-4 months. However, on Sunday from around 5 pm she had difficulty breathing and not being able to walk properly. After which her condition deteriorated.
Jimmy’s body has been sent to the Taxidermy Centre of Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Borivali for preservation. A post mortem will be done to ascertain the cause of death.