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Paradise Valley Springs Paradise Valley Springs Lion Pride

Discussion in 'New Zealand' started by Joe Franklin, 19 Sep 2019.

  1. Joe Franklin

    Joe Franklin Member

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    Anybody know what the plan is for the pride of lions at Rotorua's Paradise Valley Springs ?. Size of the Pride ? Weather they are still Breeding ?.
     
  2. Zoofan15

    Zoofan15 Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    They currently have 2.5 lions. They last bred in 2013 and I don't believe they plan to breed in the immediate future.

    All their lions are closely related:

    Luca (2004) is the mother of Hana (2007), Ayla (2012) and Aleekah (2012)

    Hana (2007) is the mother of Benji (2011), Bella (2011) and Xander (2013)

     
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  3. Joe Franklin

    Joe Franklin Member

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    It seems to have missed everybody attention (even me), but Paradise Valley Springs has announced that their pride has expanded by 2. Not much information has been provided regarding the cubs. According to their Facebook page -

    2nd of June “We are so excited to announce our brand-new LION CUBS. Thursday the 3rd and Friday the 4th of June, they will make their first appearances to the public following our 2:30pm Adult Lion Feeding. We will be doing 10.00am AND 2:30pm ADULT LION FEEDING this weekend the 5th, 6th, and 7th of June as a Queen’s Birthday Special with appearances from our Cubs following both feedings. Please stay tuned on our social media for updates about the Cubs and their regular patting times in the near future!

    9th of June “Our Cubs had a great time meeting everyone over the long weekend! They will be coming out for patting every day following our adult Lion Feeding at 2:30pm from now on stay tuned to our posts for more patting times in the future!

    Even though Paradise Valley is not an accredited ZAA member (not 100% sure on this) it's still great for the New Zealand lion population, given the loss of Auckland and Wellingtons prides earlier in the year.

    They seem to be offering a cub patting experience for visitors to pay to stroke the cubs. Whats everybody's thoughts on this ?.


    194630030_4232470083440996_5437538163664784395_n.jpg 194630030_4232470083440996_5437538163664784395_n1.jpg 2.jpg 21.jpg
     
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  4. Zoofan15

    Zoofan15 Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    I’m guessing the mother is Aleeka, as she’s one of the two youngest lionesses (born 2012) and is well placed in the hierarchy (second only to her elderly mother).

    The lengthy gap since the last litter eight years ago made me wonder if they were phasing out the pride due to it being so inbred. It’s a shame Paradise Valley couldn’t have swapped their two males for an unrelated male from Zion Wildlife Park; or at least loaned one for breeding.
     
  5. Matt_C

    Matt_C Well-Known Member

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    We visited Paradise Valley Springs today and there have been some changes with their pride.

    Three (1.2) lions were transfered around Xmas to pouākai zoo to replace the pride they recently lost to old age.

    There are now four (1.3) lions in the main pride at PVS with two (1.1) cubs which will move in with the main pride in a couple of months.

    The keeper also suggested they were interested in continuing breeding though that might have just been part of the talk.

    Otherwise the park is looking good. We managed to spot a white trout which I hadn't seen before there. They still have emu, dama wallaby, tahr and a range of native and farmyard species.

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  6. Zoofan15

    Zoofan15 Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    Thanks for the update, @Matt_C.

    The 1.2 transferred to Pouakai Zoo were:

    1.0 Benji (02/08/2011) Ben x Hana
    0.1 Ayla (21/02/2012) Max x Luca
    0.1 Aleeka (21/02/2012) Max x Luca

    This leaves them with 2.4 lions:

    0.1 Luca (20/10/2004) Max x Ryo
    0.1 Hana (05/03/2007) Zac x Luca
    0.1 Bella (02/08/2011) Ben x Hana
    1.0 Xander (20/09/2013) Max x Hana
    1.0 Seb (01/05/2021) Xander x Bella
    0.1 Sacha (01/05/2021) Xander x Bella

    Given they’ve transferred three adults and Luca is getting on in years, I believe they’ll breed with Bella again within the next year, while she’s still of reproductive age.

    The pride has been subject to several generations of inbreeding and things aren’t about to get any better considering Xander and Bella (the parents of the new litter) are their only breeding lions.
     
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  7. WhistlingKite24

    WhistlingKite24 Well-Known Member 10+ year member Premium Member

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