Felids in Australasian Zoos – News, History and Discussion

Adelaide Zoo - New Female Sumatran Tiger Arrives

Rhani arrives to her new home - Adelaide Zoo

We're excited to share the news that Rhani, our newest Sumatran Tiger, can now call Adelaide Zoo home.

The eleven-year-old female arrived on 22 March after making the long journey from National Zoo and Aquarium in Canberra.

Rhani was accompanied by several keepers and vets to make sure she felt comfortable during the transfer.

Adelaide Zoo Carnivore Keeper Claire Earl was one of keepers who joined Rhani on her journey.

“Transporting large carnivores is a very exciting and challenging task,” Claire said.

“The keepers at National Zoo did a lot of training with Rhani before she left to get her used to her travel crate.

“The training paid off and she did really well during transportation.”

After securing Rhani safely inside her crate, the team commenced the 14-hour drive from Canberra back to Adelaide.

Once at Adelaide Zoo, Rhani quickly settled in to an off-limits quarantine facility, where she’ll now spend 30 days being looked after by our veterinary nursing team.

This will allow her to slowly adjust to her new keepers and start to vocally interact with her new neighbour, 18-year-old tiger, Assiqua.

With the arrival of male Sumatran Tiger Kembali planned for later this year, it is hoped Rhani and Kembali will together contribute towards a vital international breeding program.

“It’s been more than a decade since we’ve welcomed a new Sumatran Tiger to the zoo, and we’re very excited about the future of our breeding program for this critically-endangered species,” Claire said.

 

Auckland Zoo/Hadlow Game Park Jaguars

According to this blog:

http://jackieweger.com/back-porch-cyber-chatter-with-bronwyn-elsmore/

A jaguar cub was born at Auckland Zoo and sent to the Hadlow Game Park in Timaru. There is no further information on this cub (including date of birth), only that it was a male named Inca. Inca is described as ‘heading up a family’, which implies he bred at Hadlow Game Park, though I can find no information about any births at this facility.

In this thread, it is mentioned that two jaguars were sent to China in 1987, which may have been the pair from Hadlow Game Park (Inca and his mate), since Hadlow Game Park closed in 1986 and were looking to relocate their jaguar:

https://www.zoochat.com/community/threads/some-history-of-hadlow-game-park-timaru-now-closed.209297/

Auckland Zoo had a pair of jaguar (both born 1968) which bred at Auckland Zoo during the 1970s. The male died 20/04/1979 and from the information I have, I believe one of his last cubs was a male named Lima (born 1978 or 1979) so Inca may have been a littermate of Lima? Or a result of an accidental mating of Lima and his mother, before her death in 1987. Either of these scenarios would place Inca’s age at 9 years old or less in 1987 i.e. young enough to warrant relocation to China (a jaguar at the end of its life expectancy would likely have been euthanised if suitable accommodation could not be found).

 

Taronga Zoo Jaguars

This week I renewed an acquaintance with the book ‘Postcards from the Zoo’ by Darrill Clements. She has a brief section on the jaguars at Taronga Zoo, which provides the following information:

In 1979, a young male melanistic jaguar arrived from Rotterdam Zoo. He was not fully grown and was probably just under 12 months of age (born 1978/1979).

Ali died in 1996. He sired two cubs at Taronga Zoo, Quito in 1984 and Maya in 1987.


There is some more information about Quito in this online newspaper. It lists his dam (and Ali’s mate) as a female named Wendy:

September 7, 1984
The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales Page 37

Taronga Zoo’s New Jaguar Cub

We would like to congratulate Wendy and Ali on the birth of their son. Quito, last May. Quito is quite a sensation, being the first successful jaguar birth since 1958. His birth is doubly important as jaguars, which come from the tropical and sub-tropical forests of South America, are classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Little Quito (named after the capital of Equador) can be seen with his proud mum daily at Taronga Zoo.

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/122608593/


I’m not sure if Quito was melanistic or golden, or what happened to him, but Ali and Wendy’s cub, Maya, who was born in 1987 was a male melanistic. He was sent to Melbourne Zoo, where he died of old age in 2008.

While there is little information available on Wendy, she obviously came from another zoo as her son Quito was noted as being the first surviving jaguar birth at Taronga Zoo in 26 years.

Wendy was a golden jaguar and there is a picture of her and Ali in the gallery (photo credit: @Jet):

Old Taronga Zoo Photo - Jaguars July 1990 | ZooChat

 

Taronga Western Plains Zoo African Lions - Lion Profiles

Taronga Western Plains Zoo have uploaded profiles about their eight lions, as well as a video of the new enclosure on their website:

Lion Pride Lands

Lazarus
Adult Male
Born 01/05/2002

Lazarus came to Taronga Western Plains Zoo from Auckland Zoo on 12 September 2012. Lazarus grew up as an orphan cub and was hand raised in the Western Cape province of South Africa, before moving to New Zealand at 12 months of age. He has sired two litters of offspring at Taronga Western Plains Zoo; three cubs born in February 2015, and four cubs born in November 2016, both to mother Maya. Lazarus is a valuable individual to the African Lion breeding program at Taronga Western Plains Zoo and enjoys the company of Maya, as well as his four male cubs.

Maya
Adult Female
Born 26/02/2011

Maya arrived at Taronga Western Plains Zoo on 17 Feb 2014, also from South Africa. She has given birth to two litters of cubs at Taronga Western Plains Zoo, including Makeba, Zuri and Baako (the first litter ever to be born at the Zoo), and four male cubs born in November 2016. She is a laid back lioness and together with male Lazarus, the two make an impressive pair. Maya can often be spotted playing with her two daughters and four sons on exhibit.

Zuri
Sub Adult Female
Born 28/02/2015

‘Zuri’ means ‘beautiful’ in Swahili. She is known for her confidence in the pride, and along with Makeba, enjoys playing with the four male cubs, her younger brothers.

Makeba
Sub Adult Female
Born 28/02/2015

‘Makeba’ means ‘greatness’ in African. Makeba is a quirky lioness and is known to be a little more reserved than her sister, Zuri. Together, the two get along well with their mother, Maya, and younger brothers, and will often engage in playful games.

Bakari, Karoo, Virunga and Sheru
Male Juveniles
Born 19/11/2016

Four male juveniles, Bakari, Karoo, Virunga and Sheru, were born to mother Maya and father Lazarus in November 2016. They each have a strong bond, not only with each other as siblings, but with their older sisters, Makeba and Zuri. They can be spotted interacting and playing with Maya, as well as Lazarus, who exerts his fatherly discipline with a gentle tail whack from time to time.

Note: Lazarus and Maya’s eldest son, Baako, (littermate of Zuri and Makeba) is now at Mogo Zoo.

 

Monarto Zoo - Cheetah Cubs Due Soon

Cheetah cubs due at Monarto Zoo - Monarto Zoo

The adorable addition are due this month, and will be the second litter of cubs Kesho has birthed in two years.

Monarto Zoo keeper Michelle Lloyd said Kesho had been a model mother during her pregnancy.

“It’s very exciting for us, her first litter are all very healthy and happy so we have high hopes for the new cubs to come,” Michelle said.

“Kesho has been wonderful at allowing us to check her throughout the pregnancy.

She’s quite happy to receive a reward and let us touch her belly or take a blood sample from her.”

Kesho’s latest pregnancy is especially exciting as the cubs have been sired by a different male to her litter last year, helping to increase genetic diversity.

Note: Kesho was born at Monarto Zoo in 2012, and gave birth to her first litter of 1.4 cubs in 2017: Monarto Zoo’s five adorable cheetah cubs make their public debut

 

Monarto Zoo - Cheetah Cubs Born

Four cheetah cubs born in Aussie zoo

Monarto Zoo has welcomed the birth of four cheetah cubs, as part of its ongoing effort to save the species from extinction.

Six-year-old Kesho gave birth to the healthy cubs on Monday, May 21, making it her second litter in two years.

Carnivore keeper Jon Allon said Kesho was an attentive mother and the cubs were thriving under her care, "It's very exciting to see Kesho with her second litter, we're so proud of how she's taken to caring for her young."

The new cubs are being kept with Kesho in an off-limits private den, "At this early stage we are giving the new family complete privacy, and only monitoring developments through a security camera in the den."

The cubs will undergo health checks in six weeks time, when vets will determine their sex.

Note: The sire of these four cubs is Saadani, who was born in 2011 at Safari Park Beekse Bergen in the Netherlands and arrived at Monarto Zoo in 2014.

 

Adelaide Zoo Sumatran Tigers - Rhani's Debut

Rhani makes her public debut! - Adelaide Zoo

After travelling from the National Zoo and Aquarium in Canberra, the 11-year-old Sumatran Tiger Rhani was welcomed to the Adelaide Zoo family on 22 March.

Over the past weeks, Rhani has been staying in an off-limits quarantine facility where she was closely looked after by the veterinary nursing team.

Now more comfortable in her new home, Rhani is starting to explore her new digs and is ready to meet all our big cat fans!

Adelaide Zoo Carnivore Keeper Matt Daly said Rhani started off a little shy but is becoming more adventurous every day.

“Rhani is still a little bit cautious when she hears very loud noises, but she’s slowly getting used to her new surroundings,” Matt said.

“We’ve put in a lot of effort to try help her feel comfortable, it’s been a long journey for her but she’s adjusted well considering.”

With the arrival of male Sumatran Tiger Kembali planned for later this year, it is hoped Rhani and Kembali will together contribute towards a vital international breeding program.

“It’s been more than a decade since we’ve welcomed a new Sumatran Tiger to the zoo, and we’re very excited about the future of our breeding program for this critically-endangered species,” Matt said.

“Our paws are certainly crossed that Rhani and Kembali hit it off so we can contribute to the insurance population and support the genetic diversity of Sumatran Tigers in the region.”

 

Auckland Zoo Lions - Farewell to Kura's Pride

As reported in the Auckland Zoo news thread this afternoon, Auckland Zoo has sadly made the decision to euthanise their last two lioness, Kura (1998) and Amira (2001):

Zoo pays tribute to much loved lions | Auckland Zoo News

Today Auckland Zoo said a tough goodbye to its much-loved elderly lions Kura and her daughter Amira, who had to be euthanased this morning – a decision staff say was incredibly difficult, but the best call for their welfare.

Both Kura (19.5) and Amira (17), were great advocates for their vulnerable wild cousins and lived long and full lives, with the life expectancy of female lions in the wild being up to 15, if fortunate, and 17 in zoos.

Over the past few months our carnivore keepers and vets had been closely monitoring Kura’s health, as despite an increased diet she was having trouble maintaining her weight. While matriarch of the pride her entire life, she also tellingly began displaying behaviours that indicated she was feeling extremely vulnerable, including for the first time, acting submissively towards her daughter Amira.

Senior Vet Manager Dr James Chatterton says that it was becoming evident Kura’s quality of life was beginning to deteriorate. “Her decline was irreversible and would only worsen in the days ahead, making euthanasia the kindest, most humane and only option.”

The decision to euthanase Amira

Throughout the extensive assessment and thought that went in to making this tough decision, both zoo keeping and veterinary staff were acutely aware of the adverse psychological impacts the loss of Kura would have on elderly Amira. Having lived with Kura her entire life, Amira was closely bonded and reliant on her for her confidence and security.

Carnivore team leader, Lauren Booth says, “Experience has shown us that even the rare times Amira has been apart from Kura for a few hours, she has found it extremely difficult. She would become highly stressed and anxious, so much so that in March we gave her anti-anxiety medication.

We asked all the questions and consulted, but there were no better alternatives for Amira. She couldn’t live alone as lions are pride (social/family) animals, and for their physical and psychological wellbeing need to be with other lions. With this knowledge, and previous experience of Amira’s stressed and anxious behaviour whenever Kura was away for health checks, we know that Amira would not have fared well without her mother. Neither would Amira be accepted or tolerated in a different pride, here or anywhere else. To do this would be completely irresponsible and dangerous, and would likely be fatal for her,” says Lauren.

“This is heart-breaking for us, we love both Amira and Kura and will miss them terribly, but we know that euthanasing Amira enabled her to die peacefully with Kura, and not endure any unnecessary suffering.”

Keepers’ tribute to Kura and Amira

The Carnivore team describe Kura, who produced eight offspring for the international breeding programme for lions, as “the most ‘liony of lions’ who really owned her role as matriarch. She was firm but fair, protective, and always looked out for the best interests of the females in her pride and would keep the ‘boys’ in line when needed over the years.”

“Kura was a pretty tough lady, but she also had a softer playful side which we saw in her interactions with Sheeka and Amira over the years, through bursts of play and lots of social grooming,” adds Lauren. “Personally, I’ll miss the demeanor of strength and dignity she always exuded and be forever grateful for all that she taught me about lion dynamics and what it means to be a good leader.”

In contrast, the team say Amira (the mother of two offspring) was “the real princess, the mummy’s girl and the go-with-the-flow playful one, but also very alert and astute to everything that was going on. She was always very close to her mother, so wherever Kura went, Amira followed, though in her younger years, loved to take herself climbing up trees.”

With the loss of Kura and Amira, Auckland Zoo is currently without lions, but is committed to having and advocating for these ‘Vulnerable’ (IUCN Red List) and declining African big cats long-term.

A crew from TVNZ’s Sunday programme has been following Auckland Zoo’s keeping and veterinary staff as they went through this difficult process with Kura and Amira over the past few weeks. This story will be screening Sunday 10 June, 7pm on TV One.

 

I have great admiration for the Auckland Zoo team for making the brave decision to euthanise Amira on welfare grounds. I fully agree her outlook wouldn't have been good without her mother and actually wondered if Auckland Zoo was going to make this decision when the time came, following the death of their pride mate Sheeka in November 2017.

While Lion Hill now sadly sits empty for the first time in 20 years, with over 30 living descendents in the Australasian region, it's hard not to imagine either the males or the females of Auckland Zoo's next pride being descendants of Kura.

See Post #20 of this thread for a full list of Kura's descendants, as well as additional info on this amazing lioness.

 

Sunday (TVNZ) did an emotional and fitting tribute to the lionesses last night, which included a 20 minutes section on them at the start of the show, and a video montage at the end of the show of these beautiful cats. There were keepers interviews, footage of Kura's life at Auckland Zoo (including her arrival and motherhood) as well as footage of Amira as a cub, and an explanation of why this decision was made for the welfare of the cats.

It was also mentioned that three new lions will be arriving at Auckland Zoo next year (2019).

 

Are you absolutely sure that Kura was born at Cleveland? On The Zoo programme I clearly remember the keeper (I think her name might have been Brooke?) referring to Kura as "the one we got from Indianapolis" - this was not long after Sheeka had arrived and they'd just integrated them. I'm 99% certain of this

 

I think you're right @Nisha, as this was also what they said in the tribute last night (Kura was born at Indianapolis Zoo). I've looked online and found no reference of Kura coming from Cleveland Zoo. I wrote that post soon after visiting Auckland Zoo, where they had a profile of each lioness (and where they were born) and must have (for whatever reason) mistaken one zoo for another. I doubt the signage at the zoo would have been wrong. Thanks for the correction. It's hard to imagine Auckland Zoo without Kura, having also watched her through the years on the Zoo TV Programme.

I guess we'll have to wait and see what three lions are coming to the zoo next year.

 

I managed to find a US studbook online. It confirms that Kura was born on 21/9/1998 at Indianapolis. Her only surviving sibling was a brother. He went to Santa Barbara Zoo in 2002.

Her mother was born at Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, South Carolina in 1993. She transferred to Indianapolis on Valentine's day 1995. Kura and her brother were her only litter. She died in September 2000

Her father was wild caught from South Africa during 1993. He appears to have been handreared as a cub at Pretoria Zoo before he and a female of a similar age (also wild caught) were sent to Indiana in 1995. He died in 2009

 

Wow, Kura's mother died quite young then. Interesting to know she was a first generation captive animal (on her father's side) too.

Do you have a link to that studbook? I'd like to look up some more of her family, as well as Tonyi and Tombo.

 

Kura's brother is called Chadwick. I believe he's still alive (at Santa Barbara). They have/had some half siblings through the father as well. I've only included those that survived past 30 days

Male - born 15/4/1996. Transferred to Kansas City Zoo in November 1997
Female - born 15/4/1996. Transferred to Knoxville Zoo in October 1997

Female (Gingerbread) - born 15/5/1998. Transferred to Lee Richardson Zoo in Kansas during January 1999. Transferred from their to Santa Barbara Zoo in 2003. Died February 2017
Female - born 15/5/1998. Died at Indianapolis in July 1999

Male - born 8/7/2003. Transferred to Norfolk Zoo, Virginia in October 2004.
Female - born 8/7/2003. Transferred to Milwaukee Zoo in March 2005

For some reason it was decided to pair Chadwick and Gingerbread (half siblings) up for breeding at Santa Barbara. They went on to have two litters together

Tombo and Tonyi

Tombo and Tonyi were born at Philadelphia Zoo at 17th March 1996. They had a sister (I think she might have been a White Lion?) from the same litter. The three of them left Philadelphia on 31st October 1996 for Lowry Park Zoo. They then moved again in March 1997 to Columbus Zoo in Ohio. Finally Tombo and Tonyi departed from Columbus to Auckland in December 1997. Their sister went to Toronto. They're parents were both born at Johannesburg Zoo in South Africa during 1991

Studbook link below

http://alouattasen.weebly.com/uploads/8/9/5/6/8956452/lionafricanstudbook2012-dca7d0e1.pdf

 

One of the paragraphs in this link mentions Tombi, Tonyi and their sister
WHITE LIONS IN CAPTIVITY TODAY

 

Thanks for the info and links. Interesting stuff! I see Kura's first litter (born 2001) are listed in the studbook, but not her second. I'm guessing this is because her first litter have a North American born sire, while her second do not.

Do you know what Kura's original name is? It appears she was renamed by Auckland Zoo as were Tonyi (charmer) and Tombo (clover), considering the names of her siblings and half siblings.

I don't know where the name Kura came from but it's the Maori word for school so I'm guessing it reflected her role in teaching the hand raised lioness Sheeka how to be a lion?

Kura's twin brother, Chadwick, is indeed still alive and was mentioned last month in this article:

Ask the Zookeeper – Chadwick the Lion – Santa Barbara Family & Life Magazine

 

I managed to find out that Kura and Chadwick's mother was called Mara.

Their father was called Mwangi. As a cub Mwangi was apparently kept illegally on a farm in South Africa along with a female named Shamfa. They were seized, and handed over to Pretoria Zoo temporarily until they were exported to Indianapolis in February 1995. Shamfa was the mother of all Mwangi's cubs apart from Kura and Chadwick

Shamfa and Mwangi's offspring - half siblings to Kura:

The male born in April 1996 was named Dumisani. He died in July 2014 at Kansas City

The female cub from April 1996 was Sekaye. She died at Knoxville in February 2014

The female cub from May 1998 is Gingerbread (previously mentioned) died in 2017

The male born July 2003 is called Mramba. Still alive and well at Norfolk Zoo

The female cub from July 2003 is Sanura. I believe she's still alive at Milwaukee although retired from breeding

 

Auckland didn't change Kura's name. She's recorded in a previous studbook as Kura. The same happened with Tombo and Tonyi. The names were kept the same

Chadwick was originally known as Malik. Gingerbread as Nobantu. Gingerbread's sister who died in 1999 was called Jwahir

 

That's interesting. It seems Mara took a while to breed, considering she arrived as a 2 year old in 1995 but didn't produce cubs until 1998. Unless she had unsuccessful litters prior to Kura and her brother in 1998. The litter sizes (or final litter sizes if cubs that were stillborn/died in infancy) are quite small in comparison to Kura and her descendents (many who have had litters of four cubs).

I much prefer the idea of lions having names that reflect their country of origin (Swahili, Zulu names etc.) than Gingerbred etc.