Catnews Archive

A lion and tiger at Zoo Atlanta are sick — one seriously, the other seemingly on the mend.

Masai, a 17-year-old African lioness, remained in guarded condition, zoo officials said Friday. Male Sumatran tiger Jalal, 14, was in fair condition.

Zoo Atlanta
(ENLARGE)
Jalal has been vomiting. He is in fair condition.
 

Zoo Atlanta
Masai, born in 1990 in Zimbabwe, is one of four African lions on display at the zoo.
 
The lioness has severe anemia, a low count of red-blood cells, said Dr. Maria Crane, the zoo's vice president of veterinary services. Crane discovered the creature's condition after treating her for an upper respiratory infection in December.

"She is a 17-year-old lioness, which is toward the end of a lifespan," Crane said. "This is something I would consider life-threatening."

 

On Wednesday, Crane took a sample from Masai's bone marrow and sent it to the University of Georgia's veterinary labs. She hoped to hear from the UGA late Friday.

Crane was more optimistic in Jalal's prognosis. The tiger, she said, looked as if he would shake off whatever prompted spasms of vomiting on the second day of the new year. He may have eaten something that turned his stomach, she said.

"I don't think we always know what causes an upset stomach," Crane said. "I can't say this is a life-threatening" condition.

 

Both cats are stalking old age. Lions in the wild live about 14 to 18 years, according to specialists who study the big carnivores. They can live two decades or longer in captivity.

A typical tiger may life 15 to 20 years in the wild — and, like the lion, longer in the confines of a zoo.

 

Masai, born in 1990 in Zimbabwe, is one of four African lions on display at the zoo. She came to Atlanta in October 2003 from a zoo in Columbia, where she delivered two litters. She has not borne any cubs at Zoo Atlanta.

 

The World Conservation Union, which tracks the status of animals and publishes an annual Red List of threatened species, estimates that 23,000 to 40,000 Panthera leo krugeri live in the wild. Tawny and muscular, they range across the south Sahara desert and parts of southern and eastern Africa. Their roars reverberate for miles.

 

Jalal came to Atlanta from a Louisiana zoo in May 1998 and is one of four Sumatran tigers on display. He fathered Bahagia, a female, in November 2000.

As tigers go, he is not big. Panthera tigris sumatrae is the smallest subspecies of tigers, reaching no more than 8 feet long. They're the most brightly hued, their bodies the color of sunset, their stripes blacker than moonrise.

 

They're the most imperiled, too. The World Wildlife Fund estimates that fewer than 400 exist in the wild, all of them on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Worldwide, an estimated 7,000 to 10,000 tigers remain in the wild, the WWF said.