Maulana the lion in 'Khushboo Gujarat ki' dies of old age:

AHMEDABAD: "LION!! And no, not just one, many ... hold on, they are just coming in numbers..3, 4 its 7 of them, led by the male lion, two females and cubs! They calmly come up to the water and start drinking. The older male leaves the hole and sits down by the side, the others still moving about the water," is what Amitabh Bachchanmentioned in his blog when he was shooting in Gir for Khushboo Gujarat ki.


The male lion that he was referring to, Maulana just passed away on Wednesday. Maulana-the majesty as he was called was one of the oldest surviving lion in Gir. "Maulana who was spotted in the tourism zone was named Maulana because of his look. Maulana, around 16 years of age was under treatment for the last 10 days.," said Chief Conservator of Forest AP Singh.


He said that Maulana for the past couple of years was alone and was one of the oldest surviving lion with Ram. It is worth recalling that Ram to had died of old age earlier this month. Ram too was 16 years old.

Former Deputy Conservator of Forest Sandeep Kumar said that Maulana was among the group of eight lions who were featured in the advertisement 'Khushboo Gujarat ki' the advertisement on Gir featuring Amitabh Bachchan.



Maulana had a unique hunting style. He would go and kill the domestic cattle in any of the maldhari ness and would then come out of the area. He would then wait for the body to be dumped out in the open. 

Usually, a lion loses lordship of a territory - it usually happens in about three years - but Maulana and Tapu his brother could not be dislodged for nearly several years. The two even had their hold on a group of 39 lioness and cubs.