Mumbai: Jespa, the surviving 11-year-old lion at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) in Borivali, died on Sunday morning.
Jespa, who was born in captivity at the national park in 2011, was the cub of Ravindra, who died last month. He was cremated at the park in the afternoon.
According to park officials, Jespa was ill with age and suffering from arthritis. His muscles had become weak and he was unable to move around the past couple of days. According to them, he had also stopped responding to medication.
An expert from the Bombay Veterinary College conducted a post-mortem which revealed that the big cat had died of multiple organ failure.
Ravindra and his mate Shobha were brought to the park in 2009. The pair had three cubs — Gopa, Jespa and little Shobha. This pride of lions was an attraction for tourists for many years. Little Shobha died three years after her birth, while her mother died in 2014. Gopa died last year while Ravindra, a ripe old 17, died in October, leaving Jespa as the only lion in the park, until the arrival of the two new lions from Gujarat earlier this week.
According to officials, the new pair of lions will help revive the lion safari at the park.
