Sheba the 17-year-old lion dies in North Carolina heat wave

A beloved lioness overheated and died in North Carolina last week as a blistering heatwave gripped much of the nation.

Staff at the Carolina Tiger Rescue sanctuary said they worked for over a day to help the 17-year-old big cat, named Sheba, by running IV fluids and other treatments.

But “despite the quick reaction from the staff to get in with her and get her cooled down, her liver and kidneys were unable to recover,” the sanctuary said in a statement on Facebook Tuesday.

“For a 17-year-old lion, the heat took a toll.”

The nonprofit wild cat sanctuary added that “after working for so long to try to bring her back, we had to make the heartbreaking decision to let her go.”

The organization takes in animals that have been abandoned, confiscated or who need a new home, according to its website.

According to the rescue, Sheba was the matriarch of a pride of three lions that came from Texas. She always kept the other lions in her pride Sebastian and Tarzan “in line” the rescue wrote.

“Sheba will stand out to me as the epitome of what it means to be a lion — strong, confident, and smart,” the rescue said. “Her presence will be greatly missed in the sanctuary.”

A scorching heatwave gripped much of the central US and the East Coast last week, with temperatures in the 90s in North Carolina.

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