I feel like lions are underrated in the zoo community. You can't deny that when you saw a lion when you are a little kid starting to grow into the interest of zoology you felt amazed that such an animal can exist on the same planet. Plus a lion roar is always the best sound to hear at a zoo unless its coming from behind you.
I 100% agree with you. I first saw a maned Lion in 1977, at the Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence, Rhode Island. I can remember my thrill to this day.
A few years later, 1981, a visit to the Bronx Zoo (in it’s later Golden Age) and the Lions (in the predator/prey exhibit) were the highlight of 10,000 highlights that day seem to bring.
I voted Lion.