Lev Gosha died in Irkutsk.
At the end of October he turned 21 - almost a record age for a lion. In zoos, males rarely live to the age of 15-17, but in the wild they live about 8 years.
Recently, visitors have hardly seen the lion. After a complaint to Ruselkhozandzor, it was necessary to limit the access of outsiders to the animal - the workers were accused of not feeding or caring for the lion. The zoo was outraged by such attacks:
Yes, the very old lion looks worse every month. But, by human standards, he was already 130 years old, no less. Where can you get strength, vigor and beauty at this age? It's a shame that not everyone has the level of development to understand this and not to scribble complaints. He wanted to live, and we helped him with that as best we could.
Gusha was brought in as a three-month-old lion cub in a wooden box - barely alive, with his paws falling off. A certain fraternal oligarch invited him to himself for the New Year, but refused to pick him up.
The staff of the Irkutsk zoo fought for the baby's life, and three months later Gusha got stronger. The previous owner didn't take him, so the lion cub stayed at the zoo. And when the third year began, they found him a friend - the Serbian lioness from the Novokuznetsk zoo.
Photo from the TG channel of the Irkutsk Zoo.