Lioness at Zoo Miami who saved her nephew’s life by adopting him dies at age 11
When her sister died, Kashifa adopted her nephew K’wasi and treated him as if she had birthed him.
The Zoo Miami lioness, who had four cubs of her own, often gave him special attention and kept him out of harms way.
The 11-year-old, who staff members considered the matriarch of the exhibit, was humanely euthanized Monday after suffering a spinal injury.
“She was one of the best big cat mothers I have ever seen,” Magill said. “This is very hard.”
On March 4th, the veterinary team noticed that Kashifa lost the use of her hind legs.
Kashifa was put under anesthesia and examined, but the team couldn’t “find an obvious cause for her paraplegia,” Magill said.
An MRI was performed and it found that Kashifa had sustained a spinal cord injury. Magill noted there is really no way to determine what caused it.
The lioness remained in intensive care until Monday.
“After a great deal of consultation and dedicated efforts to provide Kashifa with every possible path to recovery, it was determined that she had sustained a non-recoverable injury and the painfully difficult decision was made to euthanize her today,” Magill added.
Born at the Bronx Zoo in 2010, Kashifa had four cubs in 2014. One of her cubs, Amirah, still lives at the zoo. The others went to different zoos. She took care of her nephew K’wasi, who is now living at Lion Country Safari and has cubs of his own.
“Zoo Miami feels privileged to have been the home to this majestic cat and to have seen her cubs grow into beautiful adults themselves,” he said. “They will be her legacy.”
This story was originally published March 22, 2021 at 9:26 PM.
