Mara the Lioness are quite convinced that we did the right thing in opposing her release and that for many years to come in Whipsnade Park she will be well-fed, contented and ... safe."" (Irene Grindlay, 1966) It is not known how long Mara resided at Whipsnade Park. The life span of a lion in the wild is approximately 12 years, while those in captivity have been known to live for more than 20. If Mara was fortunate she would have died in the mid to late seventies. Mara the Lioness Mara the Lioness is an animal actor who appeared as Elsa in
Alanna (The Song of the Lioness) Alanna (The Song of the Lioness) Alanna of Trebond is a fictional character in Tamora Pierce's Tortall universe. She is the main character in The Song of the Lioness series and a minor character in a number of others. A young noble girl, Alanna disguised herself as a boy by the name of Alan, and trained to become a knight. Her true identity was eventually discovered, but she went on to become the first female knight in Tortall in a hundred years and the King's Champion. Although noble-born girls usually go to the convent to learn how to be noblewomen,