When an 18 - year - old lioness named Bridget started sporting a noticeably furrier smell in 2017,Oklahoma City Zoo(OKC ) official began to care . After all , it ’s not every day you see a distaff Leo develop a head of hair . Now , scientist believe they ’ve crack the " rummy Case of Bridget ’s Mane ” .
When news of Bridget ’s masculine hairdo first bankrupt , people of the Internet obviously had a few things to say about it .
Zookeepers took a different approach . They used behavioral training to coach Bridget into letting them withdraw a blood sample distribution from her tail assembly , eliminate the motivation for anesthesia . They then took a blood serum sample distribution from her sister Tia to serve as a control to liken the pair ’s hormone level . Both of the lions were yield at the OKC Zoo ’s Lion Overlook in 1999 . Both blood samples were sent to the veterinary school laboratory at the University of Tennessee for analysis .
Veterinary stave expected to retrieve high-minded testosterone levels like those found inone chemical group of lionsin the Okavango Delta in Botswana . Here , at least five female person were found to have not only grow manes but to display male - associated behaviors like roaring , scent - scoring , and mounting other females .
However , they set up the two sisters had almost identical – and normal – levels of testosterone .
The result or else rest on endocrine found in Bridget ’s adrenal secretor , the small endocrine Hammond organ that determine consistence systems . Here , Cortef that regulates metabolism and the immune system was 2.5 time higher than her babe ’s . And androstenedione , which is the precursor to sex hormones like estrogen and testosterone , was seven meter high .
“ The pinnacle of those two hormones together definitely bespeak that she has some extra internal secretion floating around in her eubstance that most likely caused this mane , ” said Dr Jennifer D’Agostino , OKC Zoo Director of Veterinary Service , in ablog post .
Bridget ’s “ mini head of hair ” probably comes from a small benign tumor conjure against the adrenal secretory organ , which then secrete these hormones . But a little tumour wo n’t affect her too much : OKC says she ’s in otherwise “ excellent ” wellness . As for her luscious fresh locks ?
“ We do suspect that she will continue to have her head of hair . I do n’t cerebrate it ’s probably going to get much bigger than it is now , but most probable she will have that for the rest of her life , ” said D’Agostino .
fair life expectancy of the African king of beasts is 15 eld , but those live in captivity can grow to 30 , according to theZoological Society of London . D’Agostino say the zoological garden will go along monitoring Bridget ’s wellness with several annual pedigree mental testing , but otherwise , she ’ll rock her normal routine .
We think she looks fabulous with or without the supererogatory fluff . You do you , Bridget .
[ H / T : OKC Zoo ]
