John Ball Zoo Says Goodbye To A Beloved Friend

It's been an eventful season for Grand Rapids' leading zoo, John Ball Zoo. They have welcomed new life in the form of an adorable baby snow leopard named Mera and three lynx kittens named Rocky, Yukon, and Jasper.

While much of this season has been filled with greetings, sadly the season is ending in a farewell to one of the Zoo's favorite and arguably most popular animals: Kiume, the African lion, who has been part of the zoo for over a decade.

⬇️ALL THE NEW ANIMALS AT JOHN BALL ZOO THIS YEAR⬇️

The zoo, named the best large-scale attraction in the  Best of the West awards, announced in a post on Facebook that it would be bidding a "bittersweet farewell to our majestic friend".

That friend is Kiume, who will be moving to a different Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) facility following the death of his companion lioness Abena earlier this year. Lions are very social animals, so the loss of a companion is difficult for a lion. He will be getting a new companion at the new facility.

Kiume could be leaving the zoo as soon as November 11th, so if you want to get one more look at him before he moves away you'll want to go in the next week.

While everyone is sad to see Kiume leaving the zoo, JBZ has hinted that they would be "lion" if they didn't have more news soon about a replacement lion taking Kiume's place. John Ball Zoo closes for the season on November 24th.