Lion Dental Problem

'Bruiser' the African Lion recovered exceptionally well from the dental work on his fractured upper left canine.

This was Bruiser's first major medical procedure and the keepers and the vets tried to make the experience as stress free as possible by training the big cat to accept an injection administered on the end of a pole rather than having to sedate him with an anaesthetic dart, which can be worrying for both the animals and Zoo staff. 

Shortly after the procedure, Bruiser was back to his rough and tumble self showing off his amazing strength and hunting ability by utilising a specially built 'Lion bungee' which the adult male attacked and gnawed on showing no sign of pain. 

The keepers were exceptionally happy with how the operation went and the 170 kilogram lion was soon back to devouring his full appetite of chicken, deer, lamb, beef and other meat treats.

Despite being the kings of the jungle, African lion numbers are diminishing drastically. Just a few decades ago approximately 200- 300 thousand of these majestic big cats roamed the African Plains. Today, as few as 20 - 30 thousand are thought to remain.  The main threats to African Lions include indiscriminate killing when lions come into conflict with livestock and towns people, trophy hunting and killing the species to use their body parts in traditional medicines still occurs, whilst habitat loss remains a major threat.

Taronga Zoo is home to four African Lions, 'Bruiser' and his mate 'Kutchani' and their offspring which were born in 2003, daughter 'Asali' and son 'Johari'. The group are part of the Australasian Regional Conservation Breeding Program for this remarkable species and help safe-guard against a complete collapse of the species in the wild.