Lomelok, a 15-month-old lion cub, relaxes in his outdoor enclosure Tuesday at Lincoln Park Zoo.
Zubaer Khan/Sun-Times
Looking at the four lion cubs romping around their exhibit at Lincoln Park Zoo on Tuesday, it might have appeared to be any regular day.
And that’s what their veterinarians hoped for — nothing out of the ordinary. But it was a big day. One of the 15-month-old lion cubs, Lomelok, was reintroduced to the outdoor exhibit as part of his recovery from spinal surgery March 5.
Lomelok was born with an abnormality in his lower spine, affecting his movement and activity in his back legs. That led to a slipped disc in his spine, which affected his mobility even further.
After several MRI scans, medications and weighing the risks and benefits of undergoing major surgery as a growing lion cub, the veterinary team at Lincoln Park Zoo and Med Vet Chicago decided it was worth trying. The location of the affected disc meant it was more likely to be a successful surgery, according to Dr. Kate Gustavsen, Lincoln Park Zoo senior associate veterinarian.
The surgery, though common in older lions and other animals such as tigers and dogs, has never been documented in a lion cub around Lomelok’s age, and that made the stakes that much higher.
“Really the only way he could be comfortable was to do surgery,” Gustavsen said. “There’s still a lot that’s unknown just because of his age, his size, his activity level.”
The surgery was successful, thanks to the preparation the vets did by speaking with experts at other zoos who had done similar procedures.
After the surgery, Lomelok was kept inside with limited space and interaction with his brother lions, Pilipili, Pesho and Sidai. They did “smell trading,” where the lions swap items to stay familiar with each other’s scent and could see each other through a window. They could also touch through a mesh screen.
But reintroducing the lion cubs was still risky. After six weeks apart, it was possible the brothers wouldn’t respond well.
“They’re not friendly to strangers, we didn’t know if they would see him as family,” Gustavsen said.
The reintroductions started Friday with Pesho, who is the most mellow of Lomelok’s brothers.
“Thanks to his mellow demeanor, Pesho was the first of Lomelok’s littermates to be reintroduced, and the two quickly reconnected,” a post on Facebook by Lincoln Park Zoo reads.
From there, the vets and staff tried different combinations of cubs until they felt confident all of them would be able to get along in the outdoor exhibit, according to Cassy Kutilek, the zoo’s curator of large mammals and carnivores.
“We had to monitor all of the lions, not just Lomelok,” she said. “We’re watching for all sorts of behaviors from all of them.”
Along with giving Lomelok a lion-friendly version of physical therapy by exercising his back legs and mobility, the veterinarians looked for positive indicators of his progress, such as rubbing each other’s cheeks, rolling on their backs and play fighting. His recovery has had good days and bad days, but overall he’s been improving nicely.
As Lomelok’s recovery continues, staff will monitor him for things such as an obvious limp or abnormally stationary behavior. The vets aren’t sure how close he’ll be able to get to full motion, but large dogs who have had the same surgery often return to nearly 100% motion.
When Lomelok was first brought back to the outdoor exhibit, he trotted around the space, which was specifically designed to suit young cubs, older lions and animals who have gone through surgeries or other procedures. With his mane just starting to sprout from his neck and head, he pawed at his brothers, rolled around in the grass and sniffed nearly everything, moving cautiously but confidently.
He walked, ran and played around the exhibit without much indication of his recent surgery, aside from the patches of hair regrowing where it was shaved for the procedure.
Most of all, he lounged around on the rocks with his brothers.
“I love to see that as a doctor,” Gustavsen said. “I want him to take it easy. None of this would have worked as well as it did if we didn’t trust him to know his limits.”