D’Agostino told The Post that, if they could compare Bridget’s blood samples and hormone levels with those of her lioness sister, Tia, that might lead to answers revealing the source of Bridget’s mane. The veterinarians prepared Bridget for drawing blood instead using what’s called operant conditioning: Each time Bridget allowed the vets to get one step closer to drawing blood from her tail, Bridget would be rewarded with a slice of horsemeat, imported from Canada. First, veterinarians had to train Bridget to cooperate for blood tests that didn’t use anesthesia, as The Washington Post reported last month. Jennifer D’Agostino, director of veterinary services at the zoo, broadcast a message in a video the zoo posted on its blog: “I’m here to tell you today that we think the curious case has been solved,” she said.īlood tests held the key to the zoological mystery. The zoo called it, “The Curious Case of Bridget’s Mane.” But suddenly she had a beard, and the veterinarians were baffled. She didn’t take any unusual medications with a long list of side-effects either. She didn’t eat any unusual foods, sticking to the same strict, diet that all the other lions did. Bridget, an 18-year-old lion at the Oklahoma City Zoo, had lived a perfectly healthy life. Given only males are supposed to grow manes, no one understood where Bridget’s was coming from. The mane that Bridget the lioness mysteriously started growing in 2017 looked more like a scruffy beard compared to the wild blowouts sported by the kings of the jungle.īut, still, it struck the Oklahoma City Zoo and Bridget’s fans as quite odd.
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