Mumbai, March 6 -- The city's first female BJP mayor has renewed efforts to bring back Asiatic lions to the Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Botanical Udyan and zoo in Byculla by writing to Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel. In a letter dated February 25, mayor Ritu Tawde urged Patel to transfer two pairs of lions to the city from the Sakkarbaug Zoo in Junagadh, which houses the largest population of lions in captivity across the country. "Despite continuous follow-up over the past 4-5 years, the Asiatic lions have not yet been made available for exhibition at the zoo. This has caused great disappointment among visitors. I request the chief minister to kindly intervene so that the citizens of Mumbai may soon receive two pairs of Asiatic lions as a goodwill gesture," Tawde wrote in the letter. Lions were once a major attraction at the Byculla zoo. While the number of lions dwindled over the decades, the last lion held in capacity died in 2014. A proposal to acquire two male and two female lions through an exchange programme in accordance with guidelines of the Central Zoo Authority was approved in March 2019. Under the plan, Byculla zoo was to get four lions in return for two zebras and other animals. But the plan fell through as the zoo was unable to provide zebras for exchange. Meanwhile, in 2021, a new enclosure was built for lions as part of the second phase of the zoo's redevelopment. The enclosure has been lying vacant since, said Sanjay Tripathi, director of the zoo. Asiatic lions were previously housed at the zoo and the infrastructure and expertise to care for them already exist, Tripathi stressed. "We still have trained keepers, veterinarians and maintenance staff. In the past, lions were fed buffalo meat and sometimes chicken," he said....