People from all walks of life and nationalities came Sunday to the battle-scarred Kabul Zoo to pay homage to Marjan, the ailing one-eyed lion that came to symbolize this nation's determination and endurance amid years of suffering.
Barely able to walk and malnourished, Marjan succumbed on Saturday to apparent kidney and liver failure. His age was undetermined, but he was likely in his late 20s.
On Sunday, militiamen with Kalashnikovs draped on their shoulders saluted him. Mothers lifted their powder-blue veils for a peek into his cage. Kids who used to tease him cried. Foreign envoys offered condolences to zookeepers. Journalists from the London tabloids, People magazine, world news wires and major television outlets sought details to craft his obituary.
"He's finally at peace now," said Johnathan Pearce, one of several international relief workers who arrived this month to rehabilitate the zoo's sick and shell-shocked animals.
In the end, Marjan endured 23 years of starvation, bombings and beatings, and the brutal rule of the Taliban. Only recently had top veterinarians arrived to help him fight colon inflammation and infections caused by years of vitamin deprivation.
"He died with the best medical attention around him, had all the money in the world behind him, and was in the company of his friends," said John Walsh, leader of aid effort by the World Society for the Protection of Animals that raised nearly $1 million in donations.
"He outlasted the Taliban but couldn't beat old age," said Walsh, a tough-talking Bostonian who broke down in tears when he heard of Marjan's demise.
With a golden mane and scraggly beard as long as some sported by Taliban men, Marjan's conflict-weary face was plastered on fund-raising placards and ads distributed by zoo societies from Australia to America. He first gained international notice in 1995 after a British television crew filmed the plight of zoo animals caught in the crossfire of war.
Two years earlier, Marjan mauled a militiaman who leaped into his cage and tried to tease him. The next day, the warrior's brother came for revenge and tossed a hand grenade at him. Marjan, named after an Afghan jewel, lost an eye.
As the Taliban fled in November, Marjan gained international fame when zoo organizations used pictures of him to raise the $400,000 needed to rebuild the Kabul Zoo. The campaign was so successful that it netted more two and a half times the amount needed.
"It was Marjan that did it," Walsh said. "When you looked at pictures of his sad condition, you couldn't help but give money."
When Walsh arrived two weeks ago, he found Marjan to be totally blind, arthritic, dehydrated and undernourished. Longtime Afghan caretakers said Marjan has been severely depressed and quite grumpy since his mate, Chucha, died of natural causes two years ago.
Walsh changed the lion's diet by varying the kinds of meats to boost his immune system. He injected Marjan with vitamin supplements, heated his sleeping den and installed a mat to keep him off the concrete floor.
It was a regal life compared to the cold winters Marjan spent without warmth for most of his life.
At first, Marjan seemed uplifted. But in the last week, his health deteriorated.
On Friday evening, workers had to carry him into his den where he was found dead after dawn.
On Sunday, Afghan zookeepers dug a vault-sized grave not far from where Marjan's mate is buried.
They skinned Marjan and removed his eyes, teeth and claws in hopes of displaying them if the bombed-out National Museum is ever rebuilt.
Marjan will be buried today.
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