Pittsburgh zoo euthanizes African lion Razi after fall
The magnificently maned lion named Razi, who with his brother Ajani ruled as kings of the African Savanna at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, has died after having a grand mal seizure in his exhibit Sunday.
The African lion was only 10 years old but had suffered from idiopathic epilepsy for the past 6 ½ years. During the seizure, Razi fell and fractured his jaw.
“Both veterinary and keeper staff determined that it was not in Razi’s best interest to attempt the difficult surgery needed,” the zoo said Wednesday in a news release. “Aftercare would be extremely difficult in a 500pound carnivore.”
Maintaining a good quality of life would have also been difficult because his seizures were becoming more frequent, said veterinarian Ginger Sturgeon, director of animal health at the zoo. “And we can’t just put on an e- collar” to immobilize a post- surgical lion, the way veterinarians do with domestic cats and dogs.
“The difficult decision was made” to euthanize the big cat earlier this week, she said.
“It’s a sad day for all of us,” said Barbara Baker, president and CEO of the zoo in Highland Park. “Our animals are like members of our family, and losing a family member is tough. Razi was a magnificent animal and will also be missed by our visitors who developed a bond with him and his brother Ajani.”
The lions were just over 2 years old when they came from a zoo in Virginia in 2011 and at that time they did not yet have the regal manes that mark them as adult males.
“They learned how to roar on exhibit, and they have been inseparable,” Dr. Sturgeon said. They have delighted visitors by making frequent and prolonged eye contact.
Neither male lion was used in breeding programs.
“They were so bonded to each other, it’s doubtful” they would have mingled well with a female, Dr. Sturgeon said.
Ajani is now the only African lion at the Pittsburgh zoo. Keepers are keeping a close watch on him “to make sure he is eating and doing all the things he normally does,” Dr. Sturgeon said.
Lions are the only cats that live in groups — called prides. It’s unlikely that Razi and Ajani would have spent their adult lives together in the wild. Although multiple wild males can live in a pride for a while, at some point an older dominant lion drives away the younger males, who will try to form their own pride.
Lions live 15 to 18 years in their native habitat in southern portions of the African continent and can live 25 to 30 years in captivity, according to the Pittsburgh zoo and multiple other websites.
Razi had his first seizure in the spring of 2013. Numerous diagnostic tests, including an MRI, determined he had idiopathic epilepsy, which is “a very rare condition in lions.”
Anti- seizure medication kept Razi’s seizures “at a controlled level” of two to three a year, Dr. Sturgeon said.
“Razi was an amazing cat,” Dr. Sturgeon said in the news release. “He allowed us to get voluntary blood samples from his tail every couple of months” to make sure his meds were not damaging his liver.
“Razi was a tough medical case, and many people in Pittsburgh in the [ human] medical community helped him” with the epilepsy diagnosis and treatment. Local dentist Dave Regine performed a root canal on Razi in 2018.
The number of African lions in the wild has declined by almost 40% in recent years because of loss of habitat, trophy hunting, poaching and conflicts with humans, including farmers whose livestock have been killed by lions.
The survival status of African lions is “vulnerable,” according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species. That organization estimates there are 30,000 to 100,000 in Africa.