23 June 2010 CDHB Operating Table Used to Neuter Lions A male Lion cub will get 'the snip' tomorrow morning at Orana Wildlife Park. Last week the Park's two other male cubs were vasectomised. The one year old cats, each weighing 65kg, are being neutered to prevent future inbreeding and to create a more harmonious pride as the Lions age. The procedure tomorrow will take place on an operating table donated by the Canterbury District Health Board. Animal Collection Manager, Ian Adams, says it is important to neuter the cubs before they get too much bigger: "Lions can be extremely aggressive animals and fight for dominance of their pride and over females. Past experience has shown us that neutering male Lion cubs significantly reduces infighting and aggression amongst the cats when they mature. It is therefore an effective way to manage our cats." "We gratefully acknowledge the CDHB for donating the operating table. It is perfect for the cubs' operation and will be an extremely useful piece of equipment for any future operations for animals weighing up to 250kg - that includes virtually all of our smaller hoofstock animals such as Zebra, through to our larger carnivores," adds Ian. The Canterbury District Health Board was pleased to help out when Ian Adams contacted them to see if an unused operating table was available for operations at the park, says Marie Lory, Peri-operative Nurse Manager at Christchurch Hospital. We are very happy to have one of our older manual operating tables continue its life at Orana Wildlife Park. Technology improvements have meant that the CDHB has a planned replacement programme for our operating tables which means that we sometimes have tables available that we don't use any longer," says Marie. Fifteen Lions currently live at Orana Wildlife Park including five youngsters (three males and two females). The five little Lions are the result of long term planning that involved transferring two male Lions, Malik and Zulu, from Wellington Zoo on a temporary breeding loan. Park staff plan to introduce Malik and Zulu to three other Lionesses in the near future so we are hopeful of many more cubs. Orana Wildlife Park - Christchurch - New Zealand
I presume they mean castration, rather than vasectomy? The three adult males owned by Orana were all castrated to remove their agressiveness, which also unfortunatley prevents them from growing manes. A vasectomy wont suppress their sexual urges, and they will grow manes.
