HIGH endangered Asiatic lioness Kyra, gave Dudley Zoo big cat keepers a fright when they noticed her bottom lip had become impaled on her tooth.

Assistant curator, Richard Brown, initially thought the six year-old lion had been stung by an insect when he first noticed her swollen mouth, but a closer examination revealed she had bitten through her lip.

Richard said: “I’m baffled as to how Kyra managed to do it, but we sorted her out when the zoo vet sedated her for a few minutes to allow us to free the lip from the lower canine. 

“I have been working with big cats for 12 years, and this is the first time I have come across such an incident.

“Thankfully, Kyra was fine afterwards and it certainly didn’t stop her from eating her supper that evening.”