Mystery Disease Killing Lions in India

Sep 20, 2006
Mystery Disease Killing Lions in India
A lion looks on inside an enclosed area at the Chhatbir Zoo, near Chandigarh, in the northern Indian state of Punjab, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2006. Zookeepers here are watching mournfully as nearly two dozen lions slowly die off after a breeding program left many cats sick, a wildlife official said Wednesday. The program, which began in the late 1980s to crossbreed Asiatic and African lions, was discontinued in 2002 after many of the nearly 80 lions bred were struck by a mysterious disease aggravated by inbreeding and a weakened gene pool, said Kuldip Kumar, Punjab state's conservator of forests and wildlife. (AP Photo)

(AP) -- Nearly two dozen crossbred lions are slowly dying in northern India from a mysterious disease afflicting the hybrid offspring of Asiatic and African cats paired in a discontinued experimental program.



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