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Stefka

Portrait of an Old Lady

The last african lioness of Dublin Zoo.

Portrait of an Old Lady
Stefka, 10 Jan 2012
David Matos Mendes likes this.
    • Stefka
      The last african lioness of Dublin Zoo.
    • Animal
      Nice shot of the old lioness :)
    • DavidBrown
      Why are they phasing out lions?
    • Blackduiker
      She has probably delighted visitors for many years. I hope she is being given all the TLC she has earned in the twilight of her existence.
    • Nisha
      Phasing out African Lions in order to recieve Asiatics later this year... the Lioness in the picture is called Shelia
    • zooman
      Obviously in the wild she would never make it to this age. I wonder if it is actually unfair too her to keep her alive?

      Not looking for an argument here, l think it is a reasonable point of discussion. Is keeping animals in captivity well beyond their wild average morality rate fair?

      Are we projecting our own desires for a long life onto captive animals?


      A friends father lived till 104 and l know that the last 4 years of his life he was bored and ready for death.
    • Nisha
      But at the same time, she's still in good health and it's been proven in the past (such as Edinburgh's Red River Hogs) that the negative publicity from putting individuals down without serious medical issues can far outway the cost of keeping them alive (even if they are considered surplus)

      Dublin have previously stated that they wouldn't put Shelia down just to make way for the Asian Lions (EEP rules state that no zoo can hold both sub-species due to the risk of inbreeding and disease) It was planned to recieve the Asiatics for the first time several years ago but Shelia's advanced age has prevented this. By 2010 it was expected that she would have passed away and hence 0:3 Lioness's were sourced from Germany and shipped to Rotterdam in November 2009 in preparation for a transfer to Dublin in 2010/2011. Unfortunatly in 2011 time and space ran out in Rotterdam for those females and they have now been distrubuted elsewhere (0:2 in Chester and 0:1 to Ostrava) Now the EEP needs space for the "backlog" of 2010 cubs on the continent (mostly females) and because of that they have finally bent the rules and allowed Dublin to keep both sub-species but obviously with the addition of seperate housing. Whilst yes, Shelia wouldn't have lived this long in the wild she's perfectly happy and Dublin are pretty commited to her for the rest of her days (the male that lived with her until 2008 reached 25 years!)
    • Jordan-Jaguar97
      Sheila's 24, nice to see a picture of the old girl.:)
    • IanRRobinson
      A lovely, poignant phot, Stefka.

      Will the Asiatic lions be kept in the present "African" area, or will they be kept elsewhere?
    • Stefka
      Thank you :eek:

      No, the enclosures on the left side of the entrance gate are being rebuildt for them (the current Sumatran Tiger enclosures) - you can read more details on Dublin Zoo News thread. ;)
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  • Category:
    Dublin Zoo
    Uploaded By:
    Stefka
    Date:
    10 Jan 2012
    View Count:
    2,481
    Comment Count:
    11

    EXIF Data

    File Size:
    227 KB
    Mime Type:
    image/jpeg
    Width:
    1373px
    Height:
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    Aperture:
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    Make:
    NIKON CORPORATION
    Model:
    NIKON D90
    Date / Time:
    2009:02:28 16:18:22
    Exposure Time:
    10/1250 sec
    ISO Speed Rating:
    ISO 1600
    Focal Length:
    300 mm
     

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