November 1, 2006

Our Mighty King fell silent today in what has become one of the most devastating days in the history of Destiny Big Cat Sanctuary. Like the true warrior and protector that Zenobia was born to be, his demise was sudden and swift. There was no decline, or waning of his life force. A lion suffers nothing...he either overcomes and dominates, or he dies trying...but there is no succumbing.

While tissue samples are still pending, it appears that Zenobia was bitten by a venomous snake, or perhaps spider, on his left rear foot. The pain was so excruciatingly painful that Zenobia destroyed his own foot by chewing through it to try and alleviate the pain. While Dr. Bob Schachner, in the darkness of night as well as in the rain, worked for two hours trying to stitch and staple what was left of Zenobia's foot back together, photos were being taken and e-mailed to other veterinarians who were "online", and consulting over the phone. All involved agreed at least half of his foot would have to be amputated, and more than likely, at some point, perhaps the entire leg. However, this was not something that could be done at the moment...in the middle of a rainy night...nor was it possible to even arrange. This began a whole new line of questions...How can a lion in his prime, be kept off of his feet until the next round of surgery could be scheduled? The opinion was that as soon as Zenobia would stand up, his foot would tear open again. Nevermind that he would try to chew it again as well. How could a cage be built that would force him to lay on his side...unable to stand, or sit up and be able to continue to chew at his foot? Nevermind the morals of that answer. What would something like that do to him mentally? How could his wounds be cared for without having to tranquilize him daily? What would the long term effects be from doing so? Zenobia has suffered for several years from irritable bowel syndrome, and the vets were skeptical about him having to be on sedatives, painkillers, and antibiotics for such a long period of time. Not knowing exactly what bit him, how were we to treat those symptoms and prevent further nerve or muscular damage? They were all hard questions to answer, there were no guarantees, and there was only one sure thing...Zenobia was going to suffer. The answer was one that everyone knew was obvious, but it was also the hardest one to follow through with...as it always is.

Zenobia passed peacefully, encircled by his caretakers and friends alike. These moments are never easy, but we at Destiny do everything possible to make these times as loving and beautiful as possible. Zenobia was surrounded by his friends, and bathed in candle light. A small canister containing soil from Africa that the staff has had for a few years was passed around to each person. Each person took some, and rubbed it into Zen's fur while offering their prayers and remembering special moments that were spent with Zenobia. When Zenobia left us, he had soil of his territory between his toes, and the smell of Africa in his nose. Every lion, no matter where he lives, should have a piece of his birthright.

Zenobia is probably the most popular cat at Destiny Big Cat Sanctuary. After all, the logo for the sanctuary is a griffin, and Zenobia acted as the guardian and head boss of the place. While we love out tigers just as much, we never knew if they were going to come out and greet visitors to the sanctuary. Zenobia on the other hand, could be counted on to thrill visitors and make them feel a connection. Affable and confident by nature, Zenobia was always curious to see who was visiting, and always seemed to enjoy interacting with the public.

While Zenobia never had his own pride, or ever saw another lion, his instincts told him that he was a pride animal. He grew up with our Siberian Lynx Taz, and we're pretty sure that as far as Zen was concerned, they were brothers. Tigers and lynxes are solitary cats, but that made no difference to Zenobia...they were going to be part of his pride whether they liked it or not. Sometimes life isn't what it should be, but Zenobia made the best of it. He didn't have a pride of lions to rule over and protect, but he had a ragtag group of tigers, a lynx, various domestic animals, and the humans that he made into his family. There's something to be said about living on a compound with a lion. Forget security systems, guns, or guard dogs...we had a lion! Zen liked to situate himself on something high so that he could see all around. He constantly looked off into the distance...he listened intently...and when he felt that he needed to, he caroled loudly....proclaiming..." This land is mine...mine...mine". I've never felt safer. It was a good thing that the neighbors thought it was pretty cool too since Zenobia was pretty loud!

One of the qualities that most humans admire is the ability to show kindness and tenderness to those who are weaker. There is usually an inborn instinct to dominate all that are weaker. We typically call those those types bullies. Then there are the one's who protect the weak, and dominate the bullies...ie, the ones who only pick on others the same size. That was Zenobia. He by far outweighed the three of us, and there was probably no way to measure how much stronger he was. However, it was easy to see that Zen always slowed things down just for us. This sanctuary isn't about overpowering, or bossing the cats around. The cats are allowed to be exactly who they are, and it's the human's job to get out if they can't handle it. Yet, Zenobia showed a lot of restraint with us. It was almost as if he knew that even his softest "body slam" could really put a hurting on us. He wasn't tame, and there were plenty of days where he was a "full strength" lion...it's just that he seemed to show his awareness of just how powerful he was...and just how fragile we were. That is why he was our king. Kings are remembered for how they cared for the people, not just how powerful they were. Zenobia was both...and that is why he was a great king.

Zen was born on June 22, 1998. He is a male African Lion, which is the largest predator on the continent of Africa. Zen weighs in around 600 lbs, and for the most part, has finished growing. His mane is slowly filling in, but it will probably not get much bigger. Now that he's full grown, Zen appears to be above playing with toys and other such nonsense. However, let a nice rainy day appear, and Mr. Regal becomes Mr. Silly. He runs around, bouncing here and there, emitting happy noises...which sound like deep moans. If one of the staff is up to it, they'll run around the fencing of his habitat, and Zen will chase them along the fence line, splashing them with mud as they go. These are times that it is not wise to enter Zen's habitat. An excited and over exuberant cat can really put a hurtin' on someone and not even mean to. However, on the normal days, Zen loves to get visits from the staff. Tori and Kelley go in first, and give him all kinds of affection that a lion likes to get from "females". Then, once Zen has calmed down, Keel will enter, and stays apart from the girls. After all, it's Zen's house, and his rules. He's the head boss. Keel's goal is to show Zen that he means no harm, and is no threat to Zen's "females". usually, after a short amount of time, Zen will come over and visit with Keel, keeping himself between Keel, and the girls. Male lions, even the dominate ones, know that they need help in defending their pride, so there are strong bonds with their fellow "warriors". Since Destiny is a sanctuary, and uses affection training in the limited training that is done, there is no reason to show dominance over the cats. The cat's are allowed to be who they are. Therefore, Keel shows respect and obedience to Zen in order to be his friend. After all, Keel REALLY doesn't want to have to confront an insulted lion! One of Zen's favorite things to do with the staff, is to roll over for a belly rub. Once again, it's not the most regal thing an adult lion can do, but he can't help himself. It's also an honor for the staff that Zen feels safe enough with us, to roll over on his back and expose his vulnerable belly for a good rubbing.

About African Lions

Lions live in social groups which are called 'prides.' A pride consists of a dominant male and on some occasions other males who are allowed to stay under the dominant male's authority, as well as the rest of the female lionesses which can be anywhere from two to over thirty in numbers.

Female lions usually stay in the pride in which they were born, so the females in the pride are related, be it mom, sister, aunt, grandmother and so on. At the age of four a lioness is sexually mature and can breed. Breeding rights belong to the dominant male, though lesser males may take opportunity when the dominant male is not paying attention.

A breeding pair of lions copulate many times over a two to five day period. Once a lioness has become pregnant, the gestation period is around 110 days. Cubs are born with their eyes closed and they weigh between 2 and 4 pounds. The eyes begin to open after 3 days or more, and can walk on their own within 15 days.

The lioness will have her litter away from the pride and, at the age of 4-6 weeks, the young lions will be introduced to the pride. At this point all the females help in raising the young lions. This includes nursing on other lionesses besides Mom, which gives Mom time to go out on hunts. In essence a lioness will baby-sit another's cubs within the pride. The cubs will be weaned at 6 to 8 months of age, though they will already be eating meat at 2 months of age. The male lions are allowed to live with the pride until they are two to three years old. At this age they are driven off by the dominant male and forced to live on their own. During this nomadic existence, being the social cats they are, they will sometimes join other males who have been driven out of their prides to form what is known as a 'Nomadic Pride of Lions.' All male lion prides. At this time males will hunt and kill for their food. Though it was once thought females do all the hunting, it has been found that this is not true. Male lions are capable and will hunt for food if needed. The females do a majority of the hunting though. Lions are team hunters and they work together to bring down prey much larger than the lions themselves. This ensures enough food for the whole pride. Lions are carnivores and will eat a quarter of their body weight in a single meal because they are not always successful on the hunt and it may be a while before their next meal is acquired.

The male's responsibility to the pride is the most dangerous. He must protect his pride and territory from other predators such as hyena or other nomadic males in search of a pride of their own. The most noticeable, physical difference between the males and females is his mane. This long hair around his neck serves as protection during fights. When a young male lion is looking for a pride of his own he must challenge the dominant male for his position. Many of these fights may be to the death. The mane protects the lion from bites to the throat or the neck. Whoever wins the battle wins the rights to the females of the pride and the loser, if he survives, goes back to a nomadic existence. The new dominant male in a pride's first task is to kill all cubs from the previous male. This is nature's way of dealing with inbreeding, for if the previous dominant male has been in charge for many years he has surely bred with his own offspring. By killing the previous male's cubs, this sends the females into estrus and the new dominant male can ensure a strong bloodline of his own.

Nobody knows for sure how many wild lions are left in Africa today. Estimates range from 30,000 to 100,000. The number of lions has been drastically reduced from fifty years ago and the decline continues. There are many reasons for this decline. One is human encroachment on the lion's habitat. Our human population grows and the habitat of the lion, as well as other animals, shrinks. Lions are also scavengers and they are vulnerable to poisoned carcasses put out to eliminate predators. Also, lions find the African cattle easy prey and much of the cattle is stricken with disease which, in turn, passes to the lions. All of this poses a large question for the future of the African lion. Captivity may be the only place we, as human beings, will ever see a lion in the future. If we cannot take care of animals in the wild, who do you think is next?