Isadora Lilly- Lioness Kills the Father of her Cubs

Lioness Zuri and lion Nyack had lived together in the Indianapolis Zoo for eight years, never having shown any signs of aggression towards one another, despite having been in the same enclosure and having had three cubs together in 2015. Nevertheless, last week, lioness Zuri, age 12, attacked Nyack, 10, at the Indianapolis Zoo. Staff were not able to separate the two, and Nyack ultimately died of suffocation. On Friday, the Indianapolis Zoo posted a message in honor of Nyack on their Facebook page, saying: "Our Zoo family is sad to announce that 10-yr-old male African lion Nyack has died. Earlier this week he was injured during a physical incident with female lion Zuri. We will conduct a thorough review to attempt to understand what may have led to this. Zuri and the other three lions are all ok. Zuri and Nyack had three cubs together three years ago. Nyack was a magnificent lion and he will be greatly missed. We appreciate the support from our community as we cope with the loss."

Groups of lionesses often attack lions in the wild, yet it is very rare for a single female to kill a male. Professor Craig Packer, director of the University of Minnesota's Lion Research Center, spoke of the unprecedented nature of the attack, stating: "We've seen examples of males killing females, and groups of females chasing away males, but a single female killing a male? Never heard of it." Although, Packer suspects that the causes of the attack are closely linked to a discordance in the lions' personalities, as Nyack was hand-reared and therefore most likely more vulnerable and submissive than a lion in the wild who usually dominates the female, while Zuri is far more dominant than the typical lioness.

This goes to show the effects of hand-rearing and raising wild animals in enclosures or zoos as opposed to letting them complete their natural functions in the wild.