A 23-year-old lioness died due to prolonged illness at the Nandankanan Zoological Park here late on Thursday night. The lion was under treatment for the last few months, zoo sources said. The lioness was not taking food due to illness.
After its death, only five lions and six lionesses are now left in the zoo, the officials said. During the last five years, at least nine lions, both male and female, have died in the zoo. The lions are not expected to live long as most of them are old, the sources said.