(Phoenix Zoo photo)
PHOENIX – Cookie, a 22-year-old lion at the Phoenix Zoo, was euthanized Tuesday after suffering from degenerative changes in his vertebrae and spinal cord, zoo officials said.
The irreversible spinal problems that Cookie developed resulted in “significant loss and weakness in the muscles of the hind legs that affected their mobility and quality of life,” the zoo said in a post on its website.
She has been comfortably and closely monitored by zoo staff and a veterinary team for the past few months.
Cookie came to the Phoenix Zoo from Pittsburgh in 2005 and, according to the Post, lived well above the median life expectancy of 16.9 years for an African lion.
As a hatchling, Cookie and her brother Sheik were shown off at trade shows and shows by a private owner before being rescued and taken to the Pittsburgh Zoo.
“Cookie was a strong lioness who demanded respect,” wrote Heather Vetter, a carnivore at the Phoenix Zoo, in the Post.
“Very demanding, when it came to the company they were going to keep, you could count on one paw to see how many guards they instantly lit up. Others had to spend years offering gifts and kind words to win them over. “
Vetter added that Cookie will be remembered because he loves fresh catnip, plays with paper mache balls, chases ducks that have landed in their enclosure and lies on their backs in the warm sun.
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