One of Adelaide Zoo's star attractions, Yizi the female lion, has died suddenly after undergoing a medical procedure yesterday to investigate why she was growing a mane.
Vets recently noticed that the 16-year-old lioness had started to grow the mane during a routine check-up.
"Increased testosterone levels is an obvious reason for that to happen," Adelaide Zoo vet David McLelland said.
"Her ovaries and her adrenal glands were two places we expected were going to be a source of that testosterone."
To investigate the issue, the 136-kilogram beast was carefully transported from Adelaide Zoo to the University of Adelaide's specialist agricultural campus at Roseworthy.
Yizi was put under general anaesthetic this morning, but a CAT scan revealed a large advanced tumour that was deemed inoperable because it was too close to a vein.
Instead of surgery, vets inserted an implant to regulate Yizi's hormones in the hope of stopping the mane growth.
The zoo said that, after initially seeming fine, Yizi stopped breathing and died late yesterday.
An autopsy to determine her cause of death will be carried out today.
Yizi moved to Adelaide Zoo from Auckland Zoo with her sister Amani in 2002, a year after they were born.
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