Yes they raise money but they have no ‘conservational value’ they cannot live in the wild due to their colour so for a ‘modern day zoo’ whats the point? Also most of them have health issues due to inbreeding. Personally id rather see the space used for normal coloured African Lions or the more endangered Asiatic ones. When the last cub was born they were charging people a large sum of money for experiences where they could go in and play with the cub. Its just a publicity stunt in my opinion.
One thing that struck me about the new Paradise enclosure what that there seemed very few opportunities for the lions to go 'off show' if they wanted to. It is a definite improvement on their previous enclosure and maybe it has grown in a bit since I first saw it which could improve the issue.
There are two offshow dens in the house I believe which is more than they had in the previous enclosure.
I agree that white lions have no 'conservation value', but do 'normal coloured' African and Asian lions if they and their descendants are going to spend their lives in captivity? Lions are very common in captivity, while wild African lions are declining in numbers; Asian lion numbers are actually increasing. Conservation on African lions should be done in situ and some of the money can come from zoos. If more people want to see white lions rather than 'normal coloured' lions, that makes more money for the zoo. The health issues due to inbreeding is a separate issue and I would personally prefer captive animals to be healthy. Similarly, meerkats have no conservation value and I think they are much too common in zoos. I would prefer zoos to keep lesser known endangered species and provide interesting information for visitors. Until that happens, people pay money to see meerkats and, at a time when many zoos have financial problems, zoos need to attract more visitors. I just wish more zoos would follow the examples of zoos like Hamerton and Plzen that are not afraid to have little known species.
I have the same feeling about white tigers. I know its not the animal’s fault but ,personally, unless it’s something like a circus rescue it holds no conservation value and muddies the water regarding tiger conservation. Ive lost count of the amount of times I’ve visited zoos that hold white tigers and seen visitors call them “snow tigers” or “Arctic tigers.” But, as Dassie rat states, that’s what gets the punters through the gates. If done well, however, establishments that hold rarities can cater to both the casual visitor and zoo nerd. That’s why I enjoy visiting Hamerton so much (certain collections could learn a lot from them) and I bitterly miss the variety that the Aspinall collections once held.
Poll closed. Congratulations to YWP on winning the vote for Best UK Lion enclosure. In the end it was a relatively easy win for YWP and marked their second poll win with both coming in Big Cat competitions (Leopard and Lion). As a collection YWP has performed well having achieved an average of 36% in polls taken part in, the third best for those collections involved in more than one poll. Africa Alive did well to come second their best result by a distance so far. A mention should also be given to the ZSL collections who came joint third. @ZooBinh who did you want to vote for? YWP: 52.1% Africa Alive: 16.7% Whipsnade: 12.5% London: 12.5% Chester: 2.1% Folly Farm: 2.1% Other: 2.1% I would also like to thank all those who are taking part by voting in the polls and adding their opinions to the threads and consequently making this a success. If you wanted to vote in a poll that has closed PM me and I will add your vote to the results. Furthermore, send me any suggestions you have about particular species you want to see a poll on. Finally, in the very distant future I hope to expand these polls to other areas with Benelux being the first and perhaps eventually a European wide competition of all the individual winners. However, that is a long way off and will rely on the continued popularity of the threads.
