Remembering Marjan

[Spartacus]

 

[Spartacus]

 

[Spartacus]

This is Marjan, the Kabul Zoo’s only lion, who was blinded and disfigured when someone threw a grenade into his cage, zookeepers say. Taliban fighters reportedly tortured and killed many animals at the zoo.

 

[Mr. dB]

Poor kitty, he looks fucked up.

 

[Spartacus]

And then there is the story of Marjan, a lion who used to allow a giant of a Panshiri guerrilla to enter his cage and stroke his mane. But when the man tried that with Marjan�s mate, the male lion leapt on him and killed him.

The next day, the man's brother came to the zoo and hurled a grenade at Marjan. The big cat lost an eye in the attack but survived both the civil war and the Taliban regime to die of old age in 2002

 

[Spartacus]

1979-2002 Rip

 

[redguru]

This is Marjan, the Kabul Zoo’s only lion, who was blinded and disfigured when someone threw a grenade into his cage, zookeepers say. Taliban fighters reportedly tortured and killed many animals at the zoo.

It was the family of a man mauled by Marjan. He went into the lion cage as a show of bravery and started taunting Marjan's lioness. Marjan died just after the zoo was liberated after the Taliban was toppled.

 

[Spartacus]

apparently he was shot a few times too

 

[Spartacus]

The 25 year-old beast who was half-blind, lame and almost toothless died of old age only weeks after an international animal rescue mission arrived to help him.

The only lion in Kabul zoo, he was a gift from Germany in more peaceful times 23 years ago, and became something of a symbol of survival against the odds.

Among his reported exploits are killing and eating a Taliban fighter who climbed into his enclosure to prove his bravery.

The man's brother attacked the lion with a grenade in revenge, leaving it lame and blind in one eye.

 

[Spartacus]

I was reading an article at the vet about him
also the International Exotic Feline Sanctuary
located in Boyd,Texas

http://www.bigcat.org/education/paper.asp?id=20040118.1&page=1

 

[Spartacus]

 

[Mr. dB]

Big cats are cool.

But there's a reason why we can have 150 lb.+ pet dogs, but pet cats top out at about 20-25 lbs. A 150 lb. cat is a leopard or mountain lion.

 

[H_T_]

that was a cool story. a Lion with a biography, an interesting life. makes him quite human, i think, maybe more.....