Dartmoor Zoo's much-loved lioness has died
A much-loved lioness at Dartmoor Zoo has died.
Nikita was moved to the Devon zoo in 2019 with her sister Kimya and the pair soon became favourites with staff and visitors.
The lioness is known to love her food so when keepers noticed a clear change in her appetite they grew concerned.
Her appetite kept declining and there were points when she wasn't eating at all. This made her 'very weak and unresponsive'.
The Zoo also stated that she was not responding to the medication.
Nikita was monitored 24/7 by keepers and although it seemed as though she was improving, her health quickly declined and it became clear that she would not recover.
Knowing this, the zoo made the decision to euthanize her immediately.
It was later discovered that Nikita had suffered from acute renal failure which involves failure of the kidneys.
The zoo took to their Facebook to announce the news and stated that after the sisters settled into their new home, they 'quickly became favourites with staff and visitors.'
They described the lioness as 'nosy by nature' and mentioned that the sister lions were rarely seen apart from each other.
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