Baby white lion "Bomun," beloved at Daejeon Aquarium, a zoo and aquarium in Daejeon, was reported dead.
According to Daejeon City and the Geum River Basin Environmental Office on the 24th, Bomun, a baby white lion born last August at Daejeon Aquarium in Jung District, Daejeon, died on the 2nd, a little over seven months after birth. The aquarium said Bomun was born with the rare joint disorder multiple epiphyseal dysplasia.
The female lion Bomun was born Aug. 28 last year to the white lion pair Leo and Remi raised at the zoo. After Remi, the mother, gave birth to Bomun, she did not care for the cub properly, so keepers hand-reared her through artificial feeding.
Images of a keeper giving Bomun a bottle as Bomun grasped the keeper's hand tightly with her two front paws while sucking, and of Bomun lying on the floor fully surrendering her body to the keeper's touch, were shared on social media (SNS), drawing attention.
The aquarium documented Bomun's growth and health, as well as the keepers' hand-rearing process, like a log and posted it on the fence of her enclosure. However, recent posts on SNS said, "Bomun is not visible," and "Is Bomun doing well in good health?"