Riziki & Karla - 19th October 2012

This afternoon I decided to treat myself to a visit to see the lions at Linton Zoo. I haven't seen them for nearly a month now, so I have to say I have missed them a tad, as I have just been stuck at home with a huge lack of money unable to visit them!

I don't normally spend as much time with Rizi and Karla compared to Zuri and Safina, but this afternoon even though it was very wet they were incredibly active. As seen by the first few photo Riziki was sat at the back inbetween the vegitation looking very handsome indeed! He then proceeded to wash himself in an incredibly similiar way to any domestic cat. 

Karla meanwhile was right at the back, seemingly distant with something on her mind, this was the snow leopards next door. Karla has always been the more fiesty of the pair and has always had an interest in pestering the snow leopards. Interestingly the Snow leopard enclosure is actually the original lion enclosure, so seeing the contact made between Karla and the leopards, it would be interesting to see any contact made between two opposing males (as there would have been back in the 70/80's). This is something that cannot be seen between Zuri and Riziki, with them being in different ends of the park, but they do roar to eachother, and Rizi always finishes them off, proving who rules the roost!

Karla was even rushing at the fence, charging the snowies when she got the chance, she certainly does not leave them alone, hence one of the two snow leopard enclosures (the enclosure is split in two) has been boarded up to help lessen her impact! Riziki soon joined her as seen below, but in typical male lion fashion he just kept wandering down to the front, very calm and very cool,  he is such a laid back guy!

Studying the pictures of Riziki above you can see how tall he is, and when you see him in person it really does shock you! He must be atleast 4 and a half feet at the shoulder. He is a truly superb specimen, and his coat has all thickened up for the winter season, making him a truly fantastic sight! In the winter season it seems to be that the coat does darken a tad, something seen in Riziki (the wet weather didn't help this either, as they were very soggy lions, so naturally very dark because of that).

Riziki and Karla are now both nine years old, so well into their middle aged years now. For me it is always an incredible thought how quickly these animals, cats in general age. Especially as I remember seeing these two as cubs in 2003 seen below. The pair have raised two litters of cubs succesfully and are still able to have more in the future. Riziki and Karla were the first lions brought back to Linton to start their new line again, and they have done a grand job so far!

Riziki is definately a truly superb individual, and he has definately lived up to Linton's famous line of good looking lions that they held previously. If anything he has laid down the foundations for an even better looking line, with his blood mixed with that of Zuri, a magnificent lineage of lions will be cropping up around the UK in the future.

So here are my photos from my visit today, I hope you like them, it was fantastic to get so close to them, as seeing these two up at front is a lot more of a rare occasion compared to Zuri and Safi. My relationship with these two is certainly not as close, and they do not recognise my voice and come when I call them, perhaps because I didn't visit them a lot at a younger age, but nevertheless I always enjoy their company, and I was very pleased that even though the weather was horrid, they stayed out with me!

Cheers

James