At 22 years old, and nearing 23, M'Bali was one of the oldest male lions in North America. A zoo veterinarian euthanized the cat Wednesday morning after his health took a turn for the worst in recent days.



M'Bali came to Reid Park Zoo as cub in the late 80's from a zoo in Germany. As he aged, he became deaf and arthritic but had been in good health until the last few days.



A necropsy, or animal postmortem examination, was performed Wednesday. Preliminary results should be ready by Thursday, and zoo vets expect any issues that turn up to all be related to M'Bali's advanced


http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/1022678792026037551RhHPcvCQzk
Photo of M'Bali

Sad on many levels.

Yes it is sad

He would've eaten you if given the chance, but he was a good boy and will be missed. Luckily we have his son and old lady on display.

I really hate to hear of any animal having to be put down. It's always harder when they've been around that long & in such a public display.

RIP~M'Bali

Even worse that they are in such a public display.

Really at 22 years old he died an old lion. Average life span in the wild is sixteen years. The good thing is he wasn't forced to endure a condition that would have left him miserable until he did die of natural causes.

Still doesn't make it any better for the lion though...

Death sucks!

Unfortunately at the rate humans are going we won't have lions in the wild much longer so zoo's will be the only place to see them. That's why captive breeding programs are sooooooo important. 50 years ago it was estimated that the African lion population was 500,000 throughout the continenet, today its roughly 50,000 thanks to cattle ranching, poaching, dumb ****s poisoning them because they don't like them among other reasons.

Yeah 15-18 years on average in the wild and up to 30 years in captivity