two european-bred African lions, imported to cairns wildlife reserve in 2003 (back then still mereeba ) have arrived in western australia and gone on display with the zoo's resident female lion. they are both 4 years old, genetically valuable and called nelson and mandella. in the future they may have a role in the regional program (although i assume this would depend on how many cubs they've already fathered at CWR) but lets all appreciate this step for what it represents. the management of cairns wildlife reserve have taken the first step in exchanging animals with the mainstream zoo community/ARAZPA in this country. lets hope they accreditation and further exchanges follow. river hippos, pygmy hippos and zebra here we come
Interesting. Are they planning to breed with them. While I was up at Mareeba I was told there is very little history/details on the lions at Mareeba and it was believed there could be severe inbreeding amongst the pride. Not sure how accurate this is however I think the reason for the transfer was actually Cairns Wildlife Safari's inability to manage such a large pride. Since a number of the keepers left the zoo has not had the entire pride on display. with upto 10 of the cats being held permanently in the holding yards and quarantine building which is defiantely a small area. I however do not have acces to records etc so please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. This well could be the start of a good thing, if so I applaud it but among the staff there are rumours of the owners fading interest in the park. Still has the potential to be great if it is run properly.
well, im only guessing but the male lions having come from europe will have a known pedigree, and even if there the founders of a relatively in-bred pride at cairns, if nelson and mandela are integrated into the mainstream program and not any of their offspring then a new line could be started with known pedigree. if the cubs at cairns are thought to be inbred then the best thing that could happen would be to de-sex them and phase them out through non-breeding, leaving nelson and mandella to represent the cairns gene pool in ARAZPA zoos. fortunately, the lions and some of the deer and antelope are probably the only inbred animals. id say it would be easier, although i could very easily be wrong, to trace the ancestry and sud-lines of species like hippo and tapir. were the hippo imported? taronga zoo imported a male pygmy form honolulu zoo in the 1980s, maybe tipperary sourced its animals the same way at the same time, making them even more valuable, as the hawaiian male was lost to a rat-borne infection. anyway. someone get me back on to the lions
Nelson, Mandela and female Manzi are all settling in well together. The boys were introduced to Manzi last week - she boxed them both about the ears, told them who was boss and they're all getting on very well together. I picked up a postcard from the Zoo Shop yesterday which has one of the lions asleep on her back with a Willy Wagtail on her front leg.
