A British zoo has euthanised a 17-year-old lion which had been suffering from weakness and wobbly limbs for some time.
The Asiatic lion, called Lucifer, was "showing signs of wear and tear on his body" and was often stumbling in his enclosure, according to staff at Paignton Zoo in Devon.
Zookeepers have told how they were forced to make the decision to put the ageing animal to sleep, DevonLive reports.
Lucifer was one of the main attractions at the facility, where staff were remembering him as a "lovely" lion who was easy to train but was known to be "grumpy and bad tempered".
Karen Matthews engaged to convicted paedophile 'she's been dating for 6 weeks'
Six tigers left to die in own excrement after owner moved abroad without them
Zoo spokesperson Phil Knowling said: “Lucifer was 17 years old, so he was a good age for an Asiatic lion. He was, like a lot of us, showing signs of wear and tear on his body.
"He had some weakness and ataxia – that’s wobbliness in his hind limbs – he would stagger occasionally, especially when going up and down steps, and often stumble.”
Senior mammal keeper Helen Neighbour added: “He was a lovely male lion – in that he was grumpy and bad tempered, but not too much.
"He always liked to have the last word. He was a great dad and a lovely animal to work with – he was smart enough to train, so we could vaccinate him easily.
"Us keepers will miss him terribly.”
Paignton Zoo had been monitoring and assessing Lucifer's condition for some time.
They came to the conclusion that he was suffering and the best thing for him was to put him to sleep.
Lisa Britton, curator of mammals, said: “You can do a lot to make an older animal comfortable, but in the end you can’t stop the march of time.”
Lucifer was born at Cotswold Wildlife Park in 2002.
He got his name because his number in a record keeping system was 666.
He was moved to Devon from London Zoo in 2014 for breeding purposes.
Lucifer fathered two cubs with a female called Maliya in 2016. Those cubs, a male called Yali and a female called Arya, are the zoo’s last remaining lions.
It is estimated that just 500 Asiatic lions still exist in the wild.
In July last year, Paignton Zoo's African elephant, called Duchess, was put down after she was found collapsed in her enclosure.
Source: Read Full Article
