Monarto Zoo - Lion Update Some sad news from Monarto. Another one of Husani’s cubs has died (a male). Her litter now stands at 2.1 cubs: Late yesterday afternoon, our carnivore keepers noticed lioness Husani carrying one of her cubs in her mouth. She was quite agitated and upon further monitoring by the team, it was clear that the male cub had sadly died. At this time, it is difficult to determine the reason why this has happened but our dedicated veterinarian team will do their best to investigate and understand. Today Husani and the three cubs are doing well and she is continuing to care for them just as she has before.
Werribee Open Range Zoo - New Male Lion Werribee Open Range Zoo have received a male lion. Sheru was transferred from Sydney Zoo to join mother and daughter, Nilo and Asali. 1.0 Sheru (19/11/2016) Lazarus x Maya 0.1 Nilo (17/03/2012) Imported 2014 (Denmark) 0.1 Asali (12/08/2017) Johari x Nilo Hopefully they’ll form a successful breeding pride, with Werribee welcoming their first litter of cubs since 2017 in the not too distant future.
Finally, this move has been in plans for quite some time now! It's great to see that Sheru has arrived safely. Fingers crossed for a successful introduction and hopefully cubs in the near future! Both females will probably end up giving birth around the same time; probably some time later this year or early next year.
The zoo have noted the introductions could take a few months, but being able to choose a male from a pool of four littermates would have enabled them to choose the most suitable male to head up their pride - not aggressive; but dominant enough to keep the lionesses in check. Introductions will take place when the lionesses are cycling. Even if their estrus cycles are synchronised (which they sometimes are in this species), they may chose to introduce them to the male separately. A lot of zoos have carried out their introductions this way as the lionesses are naturally protective of each other.
Sheru is currently living in the back enclosure (which used to house Jarrah), meaning he has full view and smell of the girls before he’ll be physically introduced to them (the same was done with Johari a decade ago). Werribee introduced both females together last time, and it took much longer so I’d assume maybe this time they might go for one at a time which is more efficient. Mother and daughter, Nilo and Asali, would obviously be more protective of one another compared to half sisters Nilo and Nairobi when they were introduced to Johari.
There seemed to be great variation in the ratio of lions to lionesses in introductions within zoos. The variation appears to be attributed to the age/experience of those involved so it makes sense that the two young lionesses from Givskud Zoo were introduced to Johari, a mature male, as a pair. Auckland Zoo introduced their five year old males, Tonyi and Tombo, to the pair of two year old lionesses, Kura and Sheeka, one at a time in 2001. They started with Tombo, who was the dominant male at the time; though when all four lions were put together, Tonyi displaced him. In 2003, when Lazarus and Ngala arrived as 18 month old adolescents, they were introduced to Sheeka together. She was the lowest ranking lioness, versus Kura who would have initially been too much for even both of them to handle. In this scenario, it’s all pretty even. Nilo and Asali are two fully grown and confident lionesses; while Sheru is a male in his prime, so a 1.1 ratio makes sense.
Monarto Zoo - Lion Update Husani’s three surviving cubs have been named. The males have been named Chad (protector/defender) and Ruka (pounce/jump); while the female has been named Malika (queen). The cubs are progressing well in their development and introductions to the pride have begun - starting with their mother’s half sister, Makena. Their pride will eventually number 5.7 lions (the largest in the region): 1.0 Kashka (20/10/2015) Johari x Nilo 1.0 Kito (20/10/2015) Johari x Nilo 1.0 Kubwa (20/10/2015) Johari x Nilo 0.1 Husani (24/04/2013) Leroy x Tiombe 0.1 Nia (24/04/2013) Leroy x Tiombe 0.1 Makena (18/06/2013) Leroy x Kiamba 0.1 Adira (16/02/2020) UNK/MULT x Husani 0.1 Chikondi (16/02/2020) UNK/MULT x Husani 0.1 Zahara (16/02/2020) UNK/MULT x Husani 1.0 Chad (24/01/2021) UNK/MULT x Husani 1.0 Ruka (24/01/2021) UNK/MULT x Husani 0.1 Malika (24/01/2021) UNK/MULT x Husani
Is there a reason why only Husani has been bred and neither of her sisters, Nia and Makena, have? I understand breeding from Nia may just be redundant as she’s Husani’s full sister but Makena has a different mother and it’s unfortunate Kiamba’s genes aren’t being passed down. Or perhaps Kiamba and Tiombe are related? In that case, it wouldn’t be that much of an issue. It’s very interesting to me that Monarto’s pride has not one, not two, but three adult males. I know it’s not uncommon in the wild for a pride to have more than one male but there are very few zoos in the US that have even two adult males, let alone three, in a single pride (excluding bachelor prides). On a side note, has Monarto attempted to do paternity tests on this litter of cubs and 2020’s litter? Not that it would make much of a difference since the 3 males are all full brothers but it would be quite interesting if the cubs have different sires despite being from the same litter. I’ve heard this is something that occurs out in the wild but haven’t heard of it in any zoos. Sorry for all the questions! I don’t mean to derail the thread and go off topic, I’m just quite intrigued by Monarto’s rather large pride.
No apologies necessary. I genuinely enjoy answering questions and am always happy to do so. Nia has bred once before in 2020. It was a difficult labour with two cubs stillborn; and the remaining three delivered by emergency caesarean after the labour did not progress. Nia has been put on contraception ever since and will not breed again. Makena was taken off contraception a while ago, but still hasn’t conceived. She’s reluctant to allow the males to mate with her apparently. It’s a shame as her mother Kiamba has only 1.1 surviving offspring and is herself the only remaining offspring of her parents. Kiamba is related to Tiombe. Tiombe is the daughter of Lazarus and Kura; Kiamba is the grandaughter of Tonyi and Kura via their daughter. It is quite unusual. Monarto Zoo has the region’s largest lion exhibit so it was a good way to create a large pride while accomodating three male lions, one of which would otherwise have been surplus to the region. It also offers a contingency for long term leadership of the pride in case one dies. To my knowledge, no paternity tests have been done, with the sire recorded as unknown/multiple. I wouldn’t be surprised if the first litter was sired by more than one male considering the pride had been recently formed and the hierarchy still being established.
Chad posted a photo of a lioness with a cub on his instagram yesterday, with the caption ‘some very very exciting news…’ Was there a birth at Mogo or Hunter Valley?
The parents must be Baako and Chitwa at Mogo Zoo. The photo shows a tawny lioness with a cub and Hunter Valley’s tawny lionesses are elderly. In other lion news, the young pair at Mogo (Phoenix and Maji) have been successfully integrated. Maji was handraised after the death of her mother and sibling: 'Roar' feelings: Watch these lions find love at the zoo 1.0 Baako (28/02/2015) Lazarus x Maya 0.1 Chitwa (10/08/2014) Mac x Snow 1.0 Phoenix (23/12/2019) Baako x Chitwa 0.1 Maji (11/12/2020) Baako x Zuri
It's confirmed! Chad has officially confirmed the birth of a single cub to second time parents, Baako and Chitwa. It was mentioned they hoped to sex the cub soon to hopefully chose a name for it. https://www.instagram.com/p/CczrZOfAK5n/
It’s strange how the last three litters (born to two sisters) have been so small: Chitwa has had two litters consisting of a single cub; while Zuri had twins. Mogo have been refreshingly open in announcing the births early, so there’s no reason to suspect a high mortality rate. Their maternal grandmother had several twin litters, though notably broke with tradition when she welcomed quintuplets in 2007.
After the death of Zuri, it’s great the zoo has a heathy, mother raised cub. The only downside is being a male, it won’t help with succession in this pride - which is something Mogo is struggling to achieve. Chitwa has had two single male cubs; and Zuri’s sole surviving daughter will be extremely difficult to introduce to Chitwa (I’m assuming she and Phoenix will remain in a pair). Chitwa is 10 years old, so realistically only has one more shot at producing female offspring. Otherwise they could be looking to bring in some lionesses to found a new pride with her son in years to come.
African lion birth: 0.3 cubs have been born to Lwazi and Marion. Take a look at the new lion cubs born at Dubbo zoo Its great to to see one of the USA imports breeding; hopefully the other lioness will breed too in the not too distant future; though it should be noted Lwazi is well represented via five of his six siblings being in breeding prides.
Great to have a birth from Dubbo, the first in more than five years! Hopefully Evelyn can conceive too soon. Werribee's former cubs have done incredibly well breeding wise. Kubwa, Kashka and Kito have successfully sired multiple litters at Monarto, and Ato at Taronga and now Lwazi at Dubbo. Asali will soon too be breeding at Werribee, so it definitely makes sense that the three girls at Auckland will be non-breeding.
The only thing that's surprised me is the preference for breeding Nilo's offspring over Nairibi's. Nilo has six out of seven offspring in breeding prides; whereas her half sister has zero out of four cubs in breeding prides. Nilo and Nairibi are half sisters (and their offspring half siblings again through their shared sire); but Nairibi has genetic variance through her maternal line nonetheless.
This will be hugely helpful in building up a multi generational pride, with these females potentially remaining in their natal pride to breed. Werribee will achieve this on a smaller scale via Nilo and Asali.
