Kamaia, a 14-year-old lion at Boston's Franklin Park Zoo, underwent successful surgery and blood transfusion on Friday, the zoo said.
Kamaia, received blood from his brother Dinari, also 14. Dinari had to go through a short procedure in order to collect blood for the transfusion.
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An exam had discovered that Kamaia was severely anemic and had a greatly enlarged spleen. He had also had underlying health issues although tests had been inconclusive.
The exploratory surgery lasted about 3 hours to try to determine the underlying health issues. Aside from the massively enlarged spleen, there was nothing else abnormal found during surgery.
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“Now that his spleen has been removed and he has received the blood transfusion, we are hopeful that he will be feeling better very soon. This was a major surgery, and we will continue to monitor him closely to ensure that he is comfortable and recovering well,” said Dr. Chris Bonar, Zoo New England Director of Animal Health.
Kamaia will remain in his off-exhibit space for the next few weeks so that he can be monitored during recovery.
Dinari and Kamaia have been at Franklin Park Zoo since 2015.
