Death of a Lion

January 28, 2002 by Richard S. Ehrlich

KABUL, Afghanistan (EPN) -- "The most famous lion in the world," blinded by a hand grenade and crippled with arthritis, was decapitated, skinned and mourned as a symbol of Afghanistan after dying in Kabul's bullet-scarred zoo.

Afghan and foreign officials held a "remembrance ceremony" on Monday (Jan. 28) in which they hailed Marjan, an African lion, as a suffering icon of this country's long years of war.

During the ceremony, Afghan zoo staff used a crumbling brick to hammer a wooden plank into a rectangle of raised dirt where the headless, skinless corpse of Marjan laid buried.

They then carried a blue sign adorned with white letters and colored paper flowers lauding Marjan and placed it on the plank as a signpost above his grave.

An elderly caretaker stuck some of the paper flowers in the dirt atop the grave which was next to the Kabul River behind the zoo.

At the gravesite, a representative from the Kabul mayor's office gave a brief speech, followed by the director of municipal planning, the zoo's director and also Boston-based John Walsh, international projects director of the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA).

"No doubt, today, Marjan is the most famous lion in the world," Mr. Walsh said in his speech.

"The only other lions who would fall into this category were the famous lions of the Serengeti [in East Africa] referred to as the lions from 'Born Free'," he added, referring to a film about lion cubs.

A few dozen curious Afghans, including some wearing camouflage uniforms, crowded around to witness what they said was the first time an animal was buried with honors in Afghanistan.

Kabul city officials arranged for Marjan to be decapitated and skinned so they could eventually stuff the lion for display in the bomb-wrecked National Museum if they can find a taxidermist.

"The museum has expressed an interest in having Marjan preserved for when the new museum is completed, so people can see who Marjan was, what exactly he looked like," Mr. Walsh said after the ceremony.

"We were opposed to it. We would have liked to have seen him buried intact."

Marjan's jaw had been deformed from a hand grenade blast several years ago which also blinded him.

The king of beasts died Saturday (Jan. 26) before sunrise after receiving vigorous medical treatment by Mr. Walsh and other WSPA staff.

In a secretive funeral -- "we just wanted to do it when the media wasn't here" -- the lion was wrapped in cloth and buried on Sunday (Jan. 27) night, Mr. Walsh said.

"Marjan died in his sleep. During the past four days, he showed a real weight loss which was a concern," Mr. Walsh said.

"We started an I.V. [intravenous] drip on Marjan, giving him five liters a day for the last couple of days. In the meantime, Marjan has been getting all kinds of antibiotics.

"He had been on a really good diet. We had put heat in his cage.

"He was arthritic as well. His condition deteriorated...he was in distress," the WSPA projects director said.

"He showed symptoms of liver damage which is consistent with old age in a lion and kidney failure.

"There was evidence of bloody stool," Mr. Walsh added.

"His condition was probably aggravated by the fact that he hadn't had a good diet in years and he wasn't maintained properly and was really lacking vitamins and minerals simply because his diet had been red meat and he should have been getting organ meat, heart, lungs, liver, etcetera.

"Our vet concluded that it is just a combination of factors of an old lion slowly shutting down.

"He's between 24 and 29" in human years, which is old for a lion, Mr. Walsh added.

"Even though he was blind, he was a tough, brave old guy.

"Beaten but not down, he just would never quit. He died of old age as any old warrior would," he said.

"Old, ailing and proud. He is so symbolic of the people here. You got an old country, it's really got internal problems, yet they are a proud people.

"Here is this busted up old lion with just two [blind] eye sockets and his jaw hanging down and his face all sort of ripped, just symbolic of all the buildings and everything about this country."

The fast talking, cigar-smoking animal protectionist shrugged off suggestions that the symbolism might include the coincidence of sudden foreign intervention and Marjan's subsequent death.

"No, no, no, no. He had been in decline. When I came [on Jan. 11], he was skin and bones. I'm just glad I got here when I did and he had the best medical attention we could give," Mr. Walsh said.

"The last day, he couldn't walk. We carried him out, put him in the sun, kept the I.V. drips on him and then carried him in just before dark.

"They twisted him a little bit when they were setting him down. He sort of snarled a little bit."

No one is certain who threw a hand grenade into Marjan's cage several years ago, permanently blinding and crippling the beast.

The attack came after an Afghan man climbed into Marjan's deep, open yard and was killed by the lion.

A friend or relative, seeking revenge, then threw a grenade at Marjan, according to Afghan staff.

Kabul Zoo has been a horror house for animals since the 1990s.

Much of the zoo remains in ruin after Afghanistan's 1992-96 civil war when U.S.-backed Islamic fundamentalist guerrillas squabbled over Kabul, killing thousands of people.

Mr. Walsh said he regretted "the fighting going on here at the zoo, the rat-ta-ta-tat, guys with machine guns firing, mortar shells hitting and the animals being killed.

"Several hundred [animals] were killed during that onslaught.

"A bear was crawling around with a broken back leg, the tigers were killed and the elephant was hit by artillery fire which took his life.

"There were more than 320-something animals when the onslaught began and there were nine when I got here" in 1995 during a previous visit, Mr. Walsh said.

Today, Kabul Zoo houses about 20 mammals, plus a handful of other creatures.