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Reuters
Lioness Zuri had lived with Nyack for eight years and the zoo said aggression before
A lioness at a US zoo has killed the father of her cubs in their pen – an incident experts say is shocking and unprecedented.
The pair had lived in the Indianapolis Zoo for eight years.
According to the zoo, there had never been any unusual aggression between the peer before the attack last week.
The BBC asked the lion researchers for their theories on what could have sparked the attack.
What happened?
Zuri, 12, attacked Nyack, 10, and staff could not separate the peer. Nyack died of suffocation, while Zuri was uninjured.
The zoo said it is conducting a "thorough review".
A personality clash?
Prof. Craig Packer, director of the University of Minnesota's Lion Research Center, told the BBC this is "unprecedented".
"We've seen examples of males killing females, and groups of females chasing away males, but a single female killing a male? Never heard of it."
He suspects the individual lions' personalities played a role in the killing.
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Reuters
The zoo called 10-year-old Nyack has "magnificent" lion
In the wild, male lions "totally dominate" lionesses. Nyack had been hand-reared, Prof Packer said. In contrast, Zuri was more dominant than a typical female.
Zuri was only 25lbs (11kg) lighter than her male counterpart, weighing 325lbs. Male lions typically weighs 330lbs-573lbs and females 265-397lbs, depending on San Diego Zoo.
"If it was a result of discordant personalities, maybe that's a risk factor that should be considered in other captive situations," he said.
He said, "Extremely crazy", that Zuri attacked Nyack twice: the first time he ran off and returned to him again.
"Until we see a number of cases, there's no way we can say that because of this," he said.
How unusual is this behavior for lions?
Paul Funston, Southern Africa Regional Director for Panthera, has a global wild cat conservation organization, also agreed that this incident is surprising.
In the wild, groups of lionesses do attack lions, typically in their cubs or territory, and such incidents have been filmed at safari parks. However, Mr Funston said he has never seen an instance that has ended in a death.
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Wild male lions will typically chase off any male cubs when they grow up to ensure they are alone with the lionesses pride. Sometimes the lions will kill cubs – usually when they take over their territory.
Male lions have been known to get aggressive with females and can kill lionesses who refuse to mate.
One possibility, Mr Funston said, is that Zuri – who is described by the zoo as "an attentive and protective mother" – became fearful of Nyack, which led to the fight.
Zuri's natural instincts could have been taken over, he explained, and so ended up killing him.
"Even if animals are calm or seem to be calm, it does not mean that there are not tensions," Mr Funston said.
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Courtesy Bruce Patterson, Field Museum
Lionesses have been known to attack male lions who upset them
Bruce Patterson, a researcher at the Field Museum in Chicago, said he knows what they have attacked – and injured – male lions who put up them. "[But] Uncle the zoo case, no one went for the throat! "he said.
Mr Funston, who has studied for 25 years, is an unusual and rare incident – but that does not mean it.
"This is a highly socially complex species."
"That's one thing I love about lions," Mr Funston added. "You do not know exactly what's going on in a particular scenario, and that makes them really interesting to watch and want to protect and preserve."
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