ERIE — A state environmental biologist says a large fish kill along the shores of Presque Isle State Park in Erie is “natural” and “no cause for alarm.”

People walking along the shore of the park's Misery Bay noticed large numbers of dead fish Tuesday and alerted authorities.

Jim Grazio, a Great Lakes biologist, tells the Erie Times-News that 99 percent of the dead fish were gizzard shad. The fish is a freshwater herring that is very sensitive to cold temperatures and temperature changes.

Grazio, who works for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, says the fish began dying in January but they were hidden by ice on the lake. The cold temperatures also slowed the decomposition of the fish, which became visible and washed ashore as the ice melted.

PITTSBURGH — A 21-year-old lion at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium has been euthanized because officials say the animal had stopped eating and suffered from feline dementia.The zoo announced the death of Juma, a male African lion, on its Facebook page Tuesday.The lion came to the zoo in 1990. Juma has been seized from a private breeder in Ohio after police determined the lion was roaming and eating chickens.The zoo says Juma was one of the five oldest lions in U.S. captivity.Stephanie James, the zoo's director of animal health, says the lion “would sometimes forget where he was and look around like he was lost. As his senior moments increased, his appetite decreased.”The lion was put down last week.