Lion at the Sacramento Zoo dies a month after celebrating 19th birthday
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Staff at the Sacramento Zoo celebrated Cleo the lion's birthday last month by spoiling her with iced treats and whipped cream, but no one knew it'd be her last.
"It was the right choice for her at the time," said Brooke Coe, Education Program Manager at the zoo.
Zoo staff said Cleo had been battling arthritis and kidney disease in her old age, and when her kidney started to fail, they made the difficult decision to euthanize her.
"Cleo. It's very sad. Because I believe when I was a kid I would come here and see her," said Alyssa Christensen, a zoo patron.
Christensen remembers being nose-to-nose with Cleo through the glass tunnel, marveling her majesty.
"It's so different because you see them portrayed in cartoons or National Geographic and then you see them up close, it's so much bigger and not like anything you anticipated before. It takes your breath away," Christensen expressed.
She came to the zoo from Chico with her little sister Quinn, who is sad she won't get to have the experience her sister had at her age.
"I really want to see a lion in my life," Quinn remarked.
The one-thousands of other zoo visitors for nearly 20 years shared, staring in awe at Cleo.
"Animal grief is a real thing," Coe shared.
Staff says Cleo was a star at public training demos and won every keeper's heart with her huffy greetings, love of goat milk and loud roars.
"The keepers talk about her being really sassy sometimes, but she just kind of melts your heart and she would always greet you when you come in," Coe added.
Her longtime caregiver, Tom Nakayama, had been taking care of Cleo since she arrived to the zoo 17 years ago saying: "I feel like I had a genuine connection with Cleo. She always seemed happy to see me, and I was always happy to see her."
The goal of zoo is conservation and Cleo accomplished just that. Her legacy will live on through her three cubs who are now all in other zoos.
"It's amazing to see and probably once in a lifetime," Christensen spoke.
