Samson the Lion of the Chai-Kef zoo in Rishon Letzion underwent a first-of-its-kind operation in the world in the veterinary hospital of the Hebrew University at Beit Degan, after which he returned energetically to his cage.

Samson was diagnosed as suffering from damage to the rear part of his brain, a problem common among lions that live in captivity and involving improper development of the bones of the skull, which eventually press on that part of the brain. Usually the initial cause is a chronic shortage of Vitamin A. Even though lions in zoos receive vitamin supplements in their food on a daily basis, every few years a lion turns up somewhere in the world who is undergoing a problem similar to Samson’s. So far all lions who suffered from the illness in other places in the world have died of it, whether because treatment was not given in time or because an accurate diagnosis was made only after their death.