SYDNEY, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- Australia's Perth Zoo's lost a 14-year-old African lion on Tuesday after it entered into a cardiac arrest and died during a dental surgery to have two fractured tooth removed.
The zoo's spokeswoman Danielle Henry told Xinhua on Tuesday that it was a operation which was going absolutely fine until the lion Mandela got into a cardiac arrest in Perth and never regained consciousness.
Henry added that this was the first time an animal has died at the zoo's operating table.
"This is not the first time he is going through such a (dental) procedure, he has had two done before," Henry said.
"We performed CPR on him three times but unfortunately he could not be saved."
Mandela and his brother Nelson, who died earlier this year from pneumonia, came to Perth Zoo from Queensland in 2007.
Only 17-year-old lioness Shinyanga remains at the zoo.
The life expectancy for African lions in the wild is 10 to 14 years, but in zoos they can live longer due to the high-quality diet and veterinary care.
