'Rest in peace our beautiful friend' - Kent's Wingham Wildlife Park announces death of lion Brutus

Wingham Wildlife Park in Kent has sadly announced the death of its lion Brutus. 

He'd been unwell for a few weeks so staff made the sad decision to put him to sleep - discovering in an autopsy he was suffering from advanced lung cancer.

The zoo posted on Facebook: "As some of you may know, Brutus the lion has been unwell for the past few weeks and whilst he improved greatly with treatment, this improvement was short lived and we had to make the very sad decision to put him to sleep.

"He has been suffering with his chest and whilst we tried everything we could, we had to make the decision that there was only so much it would be fair to try. We carried out an autopsy right away to reveal that he was suffering from advanced lung cancer.

"This was a very tough decision and we know that many of you will be wondering about his brother. We will be monitoring Clarence to allow him to help us make the best decision for him moving forward.

"He will certainly remain with us however due to his history and the fact that he has spent his whole life with his brother it is going to take some careful consideration as to whether he will lead a happier life in the comfort of his loving keepers (at his age probably the most likely case) or with a new companion.

"Rest in peace our beautiful friend - we are honoured to have helped him get over his early years in a circus and have him spend many a happy year here at the park."