A 17-Year-Old Lioness at a Zoo in Alabama Killed by Potential Mate Just Minutes After Meeting
Lioness Akili killed by new male lion. (Photo: Birmingham Zoo).
Staff at the Birmingham Zoo in Alabama, USA, reported that Lioness Akili died from severe injuries following an encounter on July 17, according to the Daily Star. The beloved older lioness was killed just minutes after a new male lion named Josh entered her enclosure.
Scott Kayser, the zoo’s carnivore manager, stated that introducing individuals to one another always carries risks because wild animals are highly unpredictable, and humans cannot control their interactions. Despite the immediate intervention of the animal care team, Akili could not survive and passed away on the afternoon of July 18.
Born in 2005 at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Akili moved to the Alabama zoo two years later. During her 15 years in Birmingham, she gave birth to five cubs with the African lion Kwanza. Kwanza’s death in 2021 prompted zoo staff to find a new male to replace him. Through the Lion Species Survival Plan conservation program, the zoo management identified Josh as a suitable mate for Akili.
Akili’s cubs were relocated to various zoos in 2012. Two males named Baron and Vulcan reside at the Montgomery Zoo, also in Alabama, while three females, Asha, Kimba, and Lily, were sent to the African Safari in Puebla, Mexico.
Lions (Panthera leo) are a species of mammal belonging to the genus Panthera in the family Felidae. Male lions can weigh up to 250 kg, while females are significantly smaller, weighing around 180 kg. In the wild, lions live for about 10 to 14 years, but in captivity, they can live over 20 years. Lions are social carnivores that live in groups, forming family units.
