A lioness has killed the father of her three cubs by suffocating him at a zoo in the US.
Staff tried in vain to separate Zuri, 12, from Nyack, 10, after she attacked him at Indianapolis Zoo and locked her jaws onto his neck.
She continued holding her mate’s neck until he stopped moving and died, the zoo said.
The lions had lived together in the same enclosure for eight years, with zookeepers never noticing any signs of aggression between them.
The zoo said it would conduct a “thorough review” into the African lion’s death in a statement posted to Facebook.
It read: “Nyack was a magnificent lion and he will be greatly missed. We appreciate the support from our community as we cope with the loss.”
The zoo added that Zuri and their three cubs are “all ok”. There are no plans to change how lions are managed at the zoo.
David Hagan, curator of Indianapolis Zoo, said: "They [zookeepers] build strong bonds with the animals so any loss affects us all greatly. For a lot of us, it's just like a family member."
It is not unusual for lionesses to attack lions in the wild, with incidents sometimes recorded on film.
