Max the lion, one of the four Ukrainian predators that was taken care of last year by the Lion Foundation at Landgoed Hoenderdaell, passed away today. The animal was gone, the organization reports on Facebook. “His body didn’t want anymore.”
After too tigress Shanti had to be put to sleep last year, the Lion Foundation had to make the decision to also say goodbye to lion Max. On Facebook, the foundation talks about their decision to let the animal go.
After caring for the lion for a year, the decision was made to put Max to sleep. “With all the setbacks, examinations and treatments, life didn’t get any better for Max and the prospects got worse and worse,” said the foundation.
‘We will miss this little man’
According to the Lion Foundation, it is more common that animals from Eastern Europe are bred ‘without regard for healthy genes’ and are often kept by private individuals who ‘do not know what caring for an exotic animal such as a lion or tiger entails’. “Many of these animals grow up in poor conditions and experience many problems in the long term. Max was unfortunately one of them.”
Max was getting worse by the day. “Sometimes the mind wants to, but the body can no longer go along. We will miss this little man terribly,” the foundation concludes in their message. Max’s body will be extensively examined by pathologists in the coming days.