Knoxville, Tenn. — A lioness in Oklahoma City has been making headlines for her mysterious male-like mane of hair, but turns out, a female lion at Zoo Knoxville has been dealing with the same issue for years!
Bridget, an 18-year-old lioness at the Oklahoma City Zoo started growing a mane last year, something very rare in female lions.
Zoo vets, with the help of the UT Vet School, finally determined that Bridgett likely had a benign hormone-secreting tumor in her adrenal glands. It shouldn't pose a health issue, so they aren't going to take any further action to stop it.
Turns out, Bridget is not the only female lion that's been sporting a mane.
PHOTOS: Zoo Knoxville lioness has a mane
Sylvan, a 22-year-old African lion at Zoo Knoxville, also grows a mane from time to time. It lasts for a while, then falls out. The last time she had a full mane was more than a year ago. Right now, she's sporting a little longer hair around her neck, but not a full mane.
Zoo staffers say her condition is likely linked to hormones, and is only cosmetic.
"We have not seen any effect to her behavior, her attitude, anything like that. She seems to be just regular old Sylvan going about her business but she just looks like a young boy," said Terry Cannon, Zoo Knoxville's Curator of Carnivores.
She many look young but don't let her appearance fool you! Sylvan is a very elderly lion--- the equivalent of a 90-year-old human. She spends her days doing her favorite thing--- sleeping!
African lions are an endangered species, with only about 200-thousand living in the wild.