Zara is a mum! - Linton Lions in Uganda - September 2012

Well here we go, a very very surprising post. It has been a couple of years since Zara left Paradise Wildlife Park in Broxbourne to go to the Ugandan Wildlife Education Centre to start off her new exciting life as an adult lioness.

For those of you who do not know Zara was born on the 13th May 2008 to Zuri and Safi at Linton Zoo. Unfortunately Zuri and Safi were not experienced enough to know what to do with Zara, and she had to be hand-reared. After a few weeks however she was taken to Paradise Wildlife Park and in part with a project between the zoos and the Ugandan Wildlife Education Centre, she was destined for a life more like that of her wild ancestors. 

Zara being the first cub born to this pair, was the begining of a new generation, 2nd generation Linton Lion of the newer clade! - The last of Linton Zoos original lions 'Lily' died in 2002, she was born to lions Lucy and Jaspa, and Jaspa was born at Linton Zoo to the original pair Dusty and Tanya. However Linton Zoo sent their cubs all over the World including Woburn Safari Park. This was where Riziki and Karla were born so the chances of them being descended from Dusty is rather high.

Anyway! So when I visited Linton Zoo in 2008, I was incredibly surprised, and very pleasantly so! To meet a five day old Zara. And wasn't she beautiful?!

Over the last forty years Zoo Director Kim Simmons has had her fair share of lion cubs to hand rear so Zara was in very good hands, however due to lack of space she had to go to Paradise Wildlife Park before her future in Africa.

I was very lucky to meet her again before she left to go to Broxbourne, and the photos below are from that visit. Considering this was only a couple of weeks after, and in these photos she is about 3 weeks old she had grown a considerable amount when you compare them to the ones above!

As you can see like any lion cub, she really was a cheeky girl and there are more photos from this visit on this post.

When Zara moved to Paradise Wildlife Park she created quite a stir in the media, as anyone knows lion cubs always seem to provoke a bit of outside interest! Whilst at Linton Zoo before her move she made an appearance in the  Daily Mail cuttings of which I have to say I still have on my wall! Aswell as an apperance on the BBC. Zara seemed to be born for this, as Safi had the same treatment only a couple of years before.

I have also found this very interesting piece of video filmed the day before Zara left with Bisa to the Ugandan Wildlife Education Centre. It is definately well worth a watch! Zara also appeared in the local regional magazine.

But the big news, hence the title of the post, on the 21st September, only nine days ago, Zara gave birth to her first cub! However Zara seems to be doing incredibly well, not only giving the cub all the attention that they need, but also helping to rear cubs of another lioness! (possibly Bisa). This means that not only are Zuri and Safi now grandparents, but Riziki and Karla are now great grandparents! Lion generations certainly do go very quickly, with sometimes only three years between them! Perhaps the reason for Zara's success is that she is quite a lot older than Safina and Karla were when they had their first litter so she is slightly more mature. However as far as I know this is her first litter, it is definitely her first succesful litter.

Above is the picture that everyone has wanted to see, mother and baby! Just to mention that the picture does not belong to me, and came from the Linton Zoo facebook page which can be found here. If you have facebook this page is well worth a like, along with the blog page, as all info will be posted on them as well as the blog.

This fantastic news really is great, and hopefully the start of a new generation of Linton Lions born and raised in Africa. This has also sparked off the creation of a new blog post about the rearing of lions in captivity and the wild, as well as their reproductive habits, which will be written very shortly. A new page about Linton Lions in Uganda will also be written in the very near future.

I hope everyone has enjoyed all the pictures, and anything I hear about the cub will be posted as soon as I know.

Happy reading!

James

Leo & Lenny - Zoo Male Lion Study.

Well here we go, quite a surprise post actually, I found this photo below whilst doing a bit of research, these two boys were born to Riziki and Karla in June 2007. This photo below was taken by Shane Heron.

Officialy called Leo and Lenny, it was their brother Samson moved to Newquay zoo this year, this was quite a good move as it gave Connie, the female at Newquay some company but also seperated the three brothers permanantly. Fights had broken out, and for a trio like this it is not uncommon. Male lions will fight to the death for dominance, and these three will still have just as much testosterone to get out as all other males, which can lead to picking on other males, including brothers. Male lions may form coalitions and may be sociable animals, but needless to say they can be the opposite, and the fight for power can be such a reason.

But what is so it interesting about this picture, and these two boys?
The quick answer is their manes, but more importantly how extensive they are. Not only are their manes extensive around their front legs, going right down below their neck, they cover the entire belly. And not just lightly, look at it all!

Looking at a photo of their father Riziki below, you can see that his mane is fairly short, but it does cover a fair section of his front body, he has elbow hair and a little bit of hair towards the back of his belly. Whereas if you compare that to Lintons other male Zuri, who is no relation to Leo and Lenny. He has a very long mane, which covers a lot more of his body,as well as a decent amount of elbow hair, but no hair on his back legs, and his do not have the lean figure of Riziki, he has a flap of skin all along his belly, something completely unseen in the other lions.

It was quite difficult to find photos of these two side on! So these are the best that I could find, as the majority are face shots or of them laying down.

These very big differences between Zuri (below) and Riziki (above) Will be very interesting as Zuri's cubs Masai and Zulu at Noahs Ark become more and more mature, with their mother Safi being a daughter of Riziki, they will be exposed to both lots of genetics, so it will be very interesting to see what they turn out like, more like their father of their grandfather, or even a mix of both, what an incredible sight!

Below I have had an attempt of some sketches, I will be the first to admit that I am not very gifted with any drawing skills but I think it is the best way to show the differences between these males.

Mane length is a very key issue, and a short mane doesn't have to be small, short hair gives a more precise look and Riziki follows that trend, his sons Leo and Lenny have a short mane too, but there's is a lot more extensive, and longer at the front, giving them a very impressive look indeed. Their colour too is still quite blonde, much like that of their father, and is not as distinctly dark as Zuri's is for instance. However the main 'shock' of the photo for me, was how extensive their belly hair is, it covers all of their belly and not only that, there is a hell of a lot of hair present! Some people would say that this is a characteristic of a 'Barbary lion' but given their heritage, I am now thinking that lion manes are an incredibly individualistic thing, and can change every generation and is more of a 'random' thing than a bred one.

Interestingly for Zuri, he has the one thing that none of the other males have, he has a flap of skin along his belly, this fold of skin is a characteristic of the Asiatic Lion, and has been found in lions that have lived in the North of Africa. This is where the two clades of Lions, those who originated in Asia, and then those in the East of Africa would have mixed, and therefore the lions in this area show signs of both of them, however the size of the lions in the North of Africa, as well as other characteristics show that they are more related to the African than that of the Asiatic, but testing is being done on this in studies as we speak.

Elbow hair seems to be common in all male lions that I have looked at, but back leg hair is not. Perhaps Elbow hair is part of the entire 'mane' set up, but we shall have to wait and see as I look at more male lions in the future. Back leg hair seems to be linked to extensive belly hair, but it does not seem to be a fixed thing genetically, so maybe there are other factors to it, could it be female influence?

Riziki and his sons, have a much leaner figure, thus hinting to us, that they originate more to the lions of eastern Africa. However there is such thing as a maneless lion, this picture below which I found on Wikipedia and does not belong to me. This picture shows a lion from the Tsavo region in Kenya, does not have a flap of skin along the belly, but is very fat! He also has almost no mane at all, this happens to elderly males, but is something quite common around this region in Africa. Perhaps because it is a lot dryer than some reasons, male lions with less manes have survived and spread their genes on.

As a rule however, lions in the wild have lesser manes than those in captivity, lion manes in captivity have been made greater than they actually are through selective breeding in the original menageries. But lions in Safari Parks founded  by Jimmy Chipperfield did have African founders brought in to serve the purpose of a new clade of 'fresh British' lions, and are more realistic than those in captivity in the past.

Looking at the three lions annotated in detail above, the most 'realistic' out of the three is Riziki, he is more of the typical 'wild' lion. His mane is not too long or daft, and he is incredibly lean, and tall. He is more of a 'proper' lion, with Leo and Lenny's manes being incredibly extensive, and Zuri's mane being far too long and he himself is quite short and fat. Below is one of my most recent photos of Rizki.

I have discussed the differences in males in Safari Parks before in this post, but it is something where I am going to keep updating as I get more and more information about, from when I see different lions, and how these males at Combe Martin and the two at Noahs Ark mature to fully grown, and we shall see what they look like. It will also be interesting to see if their is any difference between lions living with females and not living with females, which is why I will try and see how Samson at Newquay is doing, compared to his brothers at Combe Martin. Needless to say that Leo and Lenny, are absolutely stunning individuals, and I really look forward to seeing them grow up, and I can't wait to see them in the future.

I hope you have all found this post interesting, and I am sorry that there wont be any conclusion to my findings for quite some time, but I will keep updating my blog on what I find.

James

Whipsnade Lions - 22nd September 2012

Hi everyone, here are my pictures from my visit to Whipsnade Zoo yesterday. As you can see Spike the male, spent all day in the same spot, like the majority of the others in the lion group there ontop of their hill right in the centre of the enclosure. This not only gives them a view of their enclosure, but of the Oryx enclosure next to them, as well as probably the entire downs that the park is situated on. So like most cats they like to have a look around, and they certainly get the opportunity to do so where they are!

The male Spike pictured below, is a cousin of Zuri, and spent the majority of his time sat down making pictures of him from a point of view of comparison very tricky! Here are my posts with photos from my visits in February this year, and information about these lions is on the Meet the lions page.

It is possible to not only see the lions next to their perimeter fence and in the very large glass viewing area but also from the other side of the oryx enclosure, where their hill looks out too. It is a fantastic sight, and you never really appreciate it in any photos that you can take. But seeing a group of lions over looking a herd of oryx on an English sunny evening, is truly fantastic.

Below are some pictures of the enclosure, the enclosure 'Lions of the Serengeti' is in itself a lot larger than you think, but I have never seen the lions use the wooded side, it actually takes up a fair amount of mature woodland, but it is generally completely left alone. Perhaps they use it more in the cooler weather as they will patrol around, but as of yet I have only ever seen them use it in February when it was snowing. The majority of their summer days seem to be spent basking in the sun, which I do not blame them for!

It is easy to see in some of the enclosure pictures how obvious the glass viewing area is, the windows almost look blue from a distance, and it is covered in sand like the themed area of the exhibit. In my opinion it is a little too cheesy for my liking, but hey ho it seems to work, and the lions definately do not mind having the visitors that close, quite often on my visits they have been sat right down by the glass, enjoying a nice snooze, and a few are generally laid back right against the glass without a care in the World.

And here is that fantastic view shown in the pictures above, again perhaps ruined by the rather block feel house, and the very dominanting public viewing area, but the lions definately seem happy. Another good point especially for photographers is that when you are in the viewing area to the 'Lions of the Serengeti' because of the mound you get no fences in the way of the lions for about 2/3 of the view in there. Only the sky, which will hopefully be blue if the weather is nice! The whole idea of a sunken fence inbetween the lion enclosure and the oryx paddock, is still visible, so in a way ruins the whole idea, but you still get a superb view of the lions, and it is a zoo so in a sense you almost expect to see fences, here there and everywhere, so it is really not noticed too much.

'Lions of the Serengeti' does a superb job and catering for the small group of Adult male Spike, and a collection of realted lionesseses and castrated males giving a group of seven strong. Not the biggest group of captive lions in the wild, but compared to most zoos quite a healthy number, the only zoo taking up the Safari Park practice of keeping a trio of castrated males within the pride. The theming in the exhibit is not compeltely over the top either, plenty of sand is laid down for the visitors, as well as many educational features too, so plenty of learning can be done for the younger (and older!) generation.

So Whipsnade's lion enclosure is of a very decent size, indoor accomodation looks large too, and it has a fantastic view and clever fencing, but is it World leading? Not quite, as far as I can work out there is no seperate outdoor holding which would be useful especially for introducing more lions in the future, it takes a hell of a lot to create something like that for lions, but lions don't really need that sort of thing when kept in stable groups, they are incredibly easy as far as animals go to keep happy, and these lions at Whipnade are so happy, that they don't seem to make use of the space that they are given, typical! My only criticism however is that the boundry fences to the proper lion fence is huge, 10 feet in places atleast, and if the lions do come up to the wooded area, it is impossible to get a close distance to them. And a huge thumbs up to them for not over breeding their lions, it could be so easy to have more cubs, but ZSL know that they do not have the space and they do not so so, simple but I something I think that needs to be commended.

James