Volume 2, No. 3. February 8, 2002
Return visits
Marjan, the lion whose maimed face moved a world to assist the rebuilding of the Kabul Zoo in Afghanistan (THE LOOP, December 14, 2002) died January 26 of kidney and liver failure connected with old age. Photos of Marjan, wounded in a grenade attack, touched a nerve among animal lovers everywhere and helped drive a fund-raising effort to assist the Kabul Zoo, spearheaded by zoo associations in Europe and North America. Kabul Zoo Director Sheraga Omar, who himself has endured years of strife to keep the zoo and its residents alive, reiterated his own dedication to the cause when in mourning the loss of Marjan he commented that he hopes the celebrity lion can be replaced, preferably by a breeding pair.