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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Salt Lake City zookeepers say a popular California sea lion has died a few days after staff members noticed he'd lost interest in eating and training.
Hogle Zoo officials say the sea lion named Big Guy died on Monday. Vets who performed an animal autopsy on him say he had a large cancerous tumor that was spreading to other organs and would have been untreatable.
Zoo staff members say they noticed Big Guy's unusual behavior on July 4. He died four days later while veterinarians sedated him in an effort to diagnose the problem.
Officials say Big Guy washed up on the shores of Southern California in 2010 after a traumatic incident that left him blind in both eyes.
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He arrived at Hogle Zoo in 2012.
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