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
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