An animal sanctuary has announced that one of its beloved lionesses has died after a short illness.

Sophia, who was cared for by the Big Cat Sanctuary in Headcorn Road, Smarden, Ashford, was put to sleep after a "rapid decline" in her health.

She arrived at the sanctuary from Africa at the age of five with her twin sister Joy and was described by some at the site as "the definition of girl power".

She had two daughters Sabi and Shaka.

A statement on their Facebook page said: "Their growls and roars were so loud that they would reverberate throughout the lion house and the vibrations could be felt through the chest of anyone nearby. Their territorial roars, with a breath-taking rumble at the end, put all the male lions on site to shame.

"Bolder than her sister, Sophia was the very definition of ‘girl power’. The matriarch of a usually patriarchal society Sophia ruled the white lion pride for many years, often with an iron fist but also, at times, with great tenderness.

"When rearing her two young daughters, Sabi and Shaka, Sophia was a kind and attentive mother, totally orchestrating the introduction of them to their father at 3 months old, guiding the cubs away if they were bothering him too much and making it clear to him, in no uncertain terms, if she thought he was being a little too rough.

"As the younger pride lionesses grew up, Sophia was able to take more of a back seat and allowed the younger females to be the more dominant lionesses in the pride.

"She would often be seen relaxing with her sister in some far part of the paddock while the youngsters would approach guests, making sure that everyone was behaving as they should be."

The post continued, mentioning how Sophia was ruled by her stomach and enjoyed feeding time with her sister.

It also stated how over the past few weeks she had not been interacting with others as she usually would, which lead to concerns.

They added: "One of Sophia’s identifying features was always her eye. Black flecks were noticed in the beautiful green iris of her left eye many years ago and were thought nothing of until keepers noticed the flecks were growing.

"Closely monitored by keepers and vets over time, the decision was made to remove the eye with the concern that it contained a malignant melanoma. This did not appear to hinder Sophia's position or presence within the pride.

"Still treated with just as much respect by the other members of her family, and the gentle-natured Manzi, Sophia didn’t even seem to notice, and her life went back to normal, lazing in the sun with her pride.

"If anyone could pull off the one-eyed look, it was Sophia. Rocking it like an absolute star, the missing eye somehow made her look even more amazing than she did before.

The decision to have Sophia put to sleep was made after extensive consultation with Dr Steve Philip, one of the sanctuary's vets.

The team have said that as one of the founding members of the pride Sophia will live on not only through her girls, but she'll never be forgotten herself.

They said: "She was an enormous part of our incredible cat family at The Big Cat Sanctuary and will be missed by everyone.

"This is the most difficult part of animal care, but the good moments so far outweigh the bad and with the bigger picture in mind we will continue to remember all the cats who have left us as integral parts of that family. Not least, our gorgeous one-eyed wonder Sophia."

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