What ever happened to the lion?
Well, according to Pistone, Lefty had to get rid of it. "It´s tearing up the walls in the warehouse [where the lion was being kept]. It eats the wires....
One night they loaded the lion into a van and took it to a park in Queens and tied it by its leash to a bench.
Lefty called me. "Get today´s Post. They found our lion. It escaped. They got it at the ASPCA [animal shelter]. The lion is making some news. It´s all over television. Pretty bastard.""

///From The Herald Statesman, Nov 12, 1980:

"Lion found in Queens"

"A young male lion, at first mistaken for a dog, was found in the driveway of a Queens home late Tuesday and taken to a Manhattan animal shelter, police report.
The cat, about a year old, was found by Albert Sima of 173-26 Effington Ave. in the Fresh Meadows section around 11:45 p.m. The animal was wearing a collar but no identification tags. Police said they have no idea where he came from. Police initially called for a tranquilizer gun, but later found the beast to be rather friendly. "He was so docile he was like a big pussycat," said the desk officer of the 109th Precinct. He said police officers took the animal to the precinct stationhouse and then to the animal shelter at 73rd Street and First Avenue in Manhattan."