India’s Most Loved Lion Dies

According to a report by the BBC, one of India’s most loved lions as well as its oldest passed away in the wild from old age. The lion named Ram was found dead at the Gir sanctuary in Western Giujarat. Ram’s age was estimated to be approximately 15 years old. He was very popular with forest officials who described Ram as being both “beautiful and flamboyant”. They added that Ram was without a doubt their most photographed lion.

Died from natural causes

The Gir sanctuary serves as home to over 500 lions and is the only place in the world where the Asiatic lion can be found. Ram along with his brother Shyam were extremely famous and over the last few years, ruled over the Gir forest. Forest officials conducted a post mortem on Ram to determine the exact cause of death and found that he died from natural causes. Ram was cremated in the presence of government and forest officials according to Mr Ram Ratan Nala who is the deputy conservator of forests.

“Ram along with his brother Shyam ruled over Gir for many years and the two fathered many cubs over the years. At one point, the duo had about two dozen cubs in their pride,” Sandeep Kumar, who was Mr Nala’s predecessor, said.

Named after a Bollywood film

The two brothers were named Ram and Shyam which are very popular names in India but also served as the name of a Bollywood film that was big hit. In contrast to tigers who are not sociable animals and refuse to share their territory with other males, lions tend to form alliances with another male member of their family. Together the two males will act as protector of their territory said Mr Kumar.

Territory likely to be taken over by younger males

Mr Kumar adds that every kingdom must eventually come to an end. In this case Ram has died and Syam is not getting any younger and it will be extremely difficult to protect his territory now that Ram is gone. It is extremely likely that the territory will be taken over soon by younger male lions.