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A zoo in the US state of Texas is investigating why a male lion in its pride attacked and killed a lioness in full view of visitors, the BBC reported.

The male seized five-year-old Johari by the neck on Sunday at the Dallas Zoo.

An autopsy found she died from neck wounds and haemorrhaging.

Zoo officials said the captive-born lions had lived together peacefully for years and that they had no idea why the male had turned on Johari. The zoo said it had no plans to euthanize him.

Video taken by a visitor showed the apparently calm male lion with its jaws clamped around the female's neck.

“Everyone thought they were playing at first but then they could see that she was struggling," witness Jim Harvey told local news station WFAA.

Security personnel closed the exhibit to the public and the male was removed.

The remaining four lions appeared unaffected by the incident, said officials.

"Johari was a remarkable animal, as are all of our lions,” said Lynn Kramer, vice-president of animal operations and welfare at the zoo, in a statement.

"This is a very rare and unfortunate occurrence. In my 35 years as a veterinarian in zoos, I've never seen this happen."

The statement said Johari, known as Jo-Jo, was a staff favourite who was "sweet and loving with her sisters, and often could be found grooming them."

Mr Kramer told WFAA that male lions do sometimes kill other males in the wild, and sometimes cubs, but that attacking a female was extremely rare.

The chances of such an attack happening again were "very remote", said Mr Kramer.

However, the zoo has said it will keep its two males lion apart from the surviving two female while they try to establish what happened, and would "absolutely not" euthanize the killer.