Overview

• Chester Zoo confirmed the male was found dead this week after 15 years at the zoo.
• The 18-year-old exceeded the typical lifespan for male Asiatic lions, which is about 16 years in the wild.
• Iblis was known to visitors and TV audiences through Channel 4’s The Secret Life of the Zoo.
• Head of Mammals Mark Brayshaw praised the carnivore team and described Iblis’s lasting impact.
• The zoo plans to welcome two carefully matched lions in the next few months as part of its safeguarding work for the species, which numbers fewer than 900 in the wild and is now confined to a single forest in India.