There doesn't seem to be many cats left now (not surprising due to the age of a number of them). No breeding has occured for over a decade. The youngest tiger is the tigeress Shanti (born 2005). There is also her mother, Rewa (born 2001) and at least one of the twins born in 2004 to Shikana. I'm not sure if males, Tygo and Jahdu are still alive. It's unlikely breeding of tigers will occur unless there are fresh imports. The lions are in a similar situation, with there being only two lionesses of reproductive age, Cleo (born 2005/2006) and Sabili (born 2006/2007). There's probably around a further 7-8 lions at the park now. I'm not sure if Kamo Wildlife Park will take the oppotunity to diversify into other species or seek accreditation and acquire Sumatran tigers etc. and contribute to the regional breeding programme.
Thanks for that update @driftaguy. Do you know if Khali/Kali's twin is still alive? I haven't heard anything on Gandor for a while either, is he still alive?
So Kamo have four tigeress still in their collection then: Rewa (2001), Indira (2004), Kahli (2004) and Shanti (2005). They technically still own the triplets (2006) sent to Poukai Zoo in New Plymouth, as they were only loaned to their zoo, although I doubt the two surving tigresses will ever return #permanentloan.
Every so often I check the Facebook page for Kamo, to see if they have miraculously re-opened. The zoo was closed to the public in July 2014 (when it was still called Zion). It was supposed to re-open after a few months, after work to fix issues relating to enclosures, husbandry, etc. Then it was supposed to re-open in summer 2016/17. Then summer 2017/18. Now it is supposed to be opening in summer 2018/19. They have also had another change in management. A post on their Facebook page this month: "We are new management since November. I'm trying to be realistic and can't comment on past projections. Next summer is our goal and it's a lot of work to achieve" I'm kind of at a loss as to exactly what is taking so long to fix. Even if they were rebuilding every single enclosure from scratch, there aren't exactly a lot of them there.
If this is their intention, then they've made significant progress with it thus far. I had actually wondered myself if they didn't plan to replace any of their animals as no cubs have been bred for over a decade and all tigeresses and most lionesses held at the facility are now post reproductive so if they did want to sustain their numbers, fresh imports will be required. Alternatively, maybe they're hoping to open a park similar to Paradise Valley or Poukai Zoo, where they only have a small number of big cats in one or two enclosures, with the bulk of the park comprising of 'filler species' like deer, pigs, goats etc.
An article in the news earlier this month: Zion's big cat pride set for a public revival The most interesting information in it is an update on the numbers of big cats held there: "Four tigers; two cheetahs; seventeen lions and one black leopard. That's the full inventory remaining at what is now called Kamo Wildlife Sanctuary. Where the park once had almost 40 animals a decade ago, there are now only 24 left." The four tigers mentioned above are white Bengal tigresses Rewa (2001) and Shanti (2005) and orange Bengal tigresses Indira (2004) and Kahli (2004).
I'll believe it when I see it. By the time they get their act together and open, the number of big cats would have dwindled to single figures.
They are currently advertising for a lead/senior keeper vacancy. Advert mentions they are now down to 20 cats on site. Still claiming to be reopening soon.... Zoo Jobs: Lead/Senior Keeper
Interesting. I wonder what happened to the previous head keepers. I know at one point a former tiger keeper from Hamilton Zoo was working at Kamo. Disappointing to hear there are only 20 big cats remaining.
According to Wikipedia they have the following cats: Lions: Shikira Abdullah Cleo Cora Jabu Savannah Shumba Zamba Gandor Laduma Amafu Imvula Moya Sabie Sibili Timba Themba Tigers: Indira Kahli Rewa Shanti Leopard: Mandla - black leopard Cheetah: Thabo Since the single cheetah and leopard are mentioned in the job listing; and I believe the tigresses are all still alive; three of the lions have apparently died recently. The youngest were born in 2006, so new imports will be needed to sustain numbers if that's there intention. It's more likely they will just allow these populations to die out though as evidenced by their inability to open and lack of breeding during the past 14 years.
They did have a list of animals on their website but that seems to have been removed since I last checked. A while ago someone pointed out on the KWS Facebook page that Gandor and Kahli were missing from the list, to which they didn't respond.
Sounds like a typical zoo response. Considering all their cats are all middle aged or elderly, losses will be as frequent as they are inevitable over the next decade. Their male cheetah is enjoying an unusually long life however. It's a shame he couldn't have gone to Orana and joined the breeding programme. I'm guessing they would have refused an animal from a facility not participating in the breeding programme/accredited.
An update on their Facebook page today mentions that are planning to reopen in January (subject to renovations being finished)
