Dinari, the last living lion at Boston’s Franklin Park Zoo, was euthanized this week following a steep decline in his health, zoo officials announced Thursday. The 17-year-old male had outlived the typical lion lifespan, but caregivers noticed him growing lethargic and losing his appetite in his final days, and blood work revealed signs of chronic renal failure.
Given his rapid decline and poor prognosis, zoo officials said a decision was made to humanely euthanize Dinari, according to Boston.com. Dinari’s death leaves Franklin Park Zoo without a single lion for the first time in over a decade, and officials say the exhibit will sit empty, at least for now.
Sarah Patterson, an area curator at the zoo, said she and Dinari’s care team were heartbroken over the loss. “Dinari’s long life is a testament to the dedication and commitment” of those who looked after him, Patterson said, as reported by The Boston Globe. The Globe’s account notes that caretakers found Dinari lethargic and lacking an appetite before the diagnosis emerged.
A Decade at Franklin Park, Cut Short by Age
Dinari moved to Franklin Park Zoo in 2015 alongside his brother and littermate, Kamaia, the Globe’s reporting shows. The pair had become familiar fixtures of the zoo’s lion habitat for more than ten years, outlasting what the National Zoo’s aging-lion research describes as a geriatric threshold of 15 years, a mark at which kidney problems become a more serious concern for lions in captivity…