Ex-Spokane Lion Dies, Victim Of Poor Diet

A 10-year-old African lion died at Zoo Boise, the victim of the exotic pet trade.

Born in captivity and bounced among seven owners, the lion named Leonard became obese from a poor diet that eventually destroyed his liver, Idaho Zoological Society director Steve Burns said. Leonard died Monday.

Leonard came to the local zoo in December from Spokane’s defunct Walk in the Wild, while the latest in a series of owners prepared a better place for him. He had been neutered at an early age, so he never developed the mane of an adult male lion. Previous owners also filed down his teeth and removed his claws, so few zoos would have wanted him.

Leonard weighed about 750 pounds when he arrived in Boise; a normal lion weighs 350 to 425 pounds. With his liver failing, he weighed less than 200 pounds by the time of his death.