Pride of place
NIVEDITA GANGULY
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Meet Jinny, the oldest lion in captivity.
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PHOTO: K.R. DEEPAK
Grit gets going: Jinny
Old age has done little to dampen her soaring spirits. Her stern look is sure to make your heart skip a beat even before she tells you that she has seen more summers than any other lioness in the country. The average life span of a lion in captivity rarely exceeds 18-20 years.
But even at 26, Jinny, the oldest lioness bred in captivity at the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park is going strong and sturdy, creating a record of some sort. Her roar gives no inkling of her age. It can make your heart quiver. But what makes the lioness a darling of the Zoo is her friendly nature.
Special diet
While old age problems might have made her physically weak, her strong willpower and courage have overtaken most of the problems faced by animals living in their twilight years.
Because of her age, there are digestive disturbances and arthritic troubles that are being taken care of regularly. She is kept on a special diet. She is being fed half litre of milk with raw eggs, one kg of chicken, three to four kg of beef along with multivitamin tablets and calcium preparations. Alterations in diet are done under special circumstances to keep her in good shape.
But the most hated period of the year for Jinny is the hot and sultry summer when it becomes a serious survival issue for her.
During summer, the zoo authorities had to be on guard to ensure that she is comfortable. Extra cooling measures were provided to keep her in good health and frequent health check-ups were done to avoid complication.
The zoo houses two male and two lionesses.
All of them are not let out at the same time because they fight with each other.
The other two are quite young and obviously more powerful because of which they tend to dominate over Jinny.
Born on August 20, 1983 in the zoo, she is evidently the pride of the zoo.
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