Want to see a lion at a Chicago area zoo? You’re out of luck, for now

What’s a trip to the zoo without marveling at the majesty of the African lions?

For at least the next few months, you’ll have to head out of town to do so — following the death earlier this week of Isis, Brookfield Zoo’s 14-year-old female lion. The zoo’s only other lion, Zenda, was euthanized Jan. 2, due to age-related health issues.

Lincoln Park Zoo’s three lions were sent off to Rolling Hills Zoo in Kansas last spring, in anticipation of the new lion house in the $40 million Pepper Family Wildlife Center, which is expected to take at least another 18 months to complete.

It still wasn’t clear Wednesday how Isis tumbled from her habitat into a moat 15 feet below. The exhibit that housed the lions at Brookfield was built in the mid-1930s, said Bill Zeigler, senior vice president of animal programs.

“It has housed large cats that entire time and we’ve never had an injury of a cat that’s been in a moat,” Zeigler said.

Isis was discovered unresponsive in the moat about 10:45 a.m. Monday, and while a CT scan found no bone fractures, the lion had suffered head trauma, which led to swelling of the brain, Zeigler said.

There were no witnesses to the fall, nor was there any video surveillance, he said.

Isis was 14 years old [the high end of the normal life expectancy for a lion living in the wild], but “she was in very good shape for a cat her age,” Zeigler said. Isis had been in the exhibit since 2008 and had never before been down in the moat, he said.

Asked if there are now plans to modify the exhibit or add to the video surveillance, Zeigler said: “We are going to take every opportunity to review everything out there. ... We meet all the standards set by our profession, by USDA and everyone else in terms of how the exhibit was built and how it performs.”

Plans have been in the works since early December to bring in two more lions, “more than likely early this spring,” Zeigler said.

In the meantime, the nearest place to view a lion in captivity would appear to be at Milwaukee County Zoo in Milwaukee. Or you could head to Peoria Zoo, where they have two.

“He’s a beautiful, beautiful animal,” said Jennifer Dilberti-Shea, a spokeswoman for Milwaukee zoo, talking about their 16-year-old male, Themba. “Tell people to come to Milwaukee.”