About the logo for Magnum Publishing

Judy King designed this superb lion knowing how much I admire the big cats.  Akitas have always reminded me of these amazing creatures with their aristocratic bearing; they are extremely dignified, intelligent, strong, and very courageous. Judy’s design depicts a perfect male lion.  It is dedicated to Marjan, the one-eyed lion at the Kabul Zoo in Afghanistan.

Under Taliban rule, the animals at Kabul Zoo were tormented, abused, mutilated and killed by Taliban soldiers. Marjan was not exempt--in 1995 a hand grenade tossed into his enclosure by a Taliban soldier, detonated in Marjan’s face. The explosion tore into his legs and blew off the left side of his muzzle leaving Marjan blind and lame.  Teeth needed to gnaw bones were gone, along with his left eye and his hearing. Shrapnel remained lodged in his mouth and jaw.

Zookeepers Abdul Sattar and Sheraq Omar had remained to care for Marjan and the few surviving animals despite not being paid for several months.  The small staff at Kabul Zoo was reduced to begging for food for the animals until the World Society for the Protection of Animals brought food, medical care and hope to the zoo in November 2001.

On January 25, 2002 Marjan died in his sleep. To me he remains a symbol of how easily mankind reverts to primitive behavior, forgetting our responsibility as benevolent stewards of the animals.