Volcan, a 9 years old male barbary lion, arrived by truck last night (his journey started wednesday !) from Rabat Zoo in Morocco. It seems that the lion was to heavy and large to travel by air !? He will be the new breeding male in Paris where he will join 3 females and 1 male who was castrated previously ( I am quite sure he his son and brother of two females at least).
Sad news from Paris : Kalina, the only female manatee, died last wednesday due to a quick severe livre disease. So there are three manatees now : Husar, Tinus and Kaï. All males.
Does anyone really believe that there are any barbary lions anymore ? Is there any point to sustaining this kind of illusion ? I don't know why zoos just don't acknowledge the reality that this subspecies is extinct.
I know the barbary lions in Europe, even the ones that came from Rabat have been hybridized. However, what is the status of the Royal stock in Morocco? They've been kept and bred for a while, not sure where the lions initially came from but I think, although maybe inbred, that they all come from the same stock.
I wish they were but there have been genetic tests on these for over 20 years @Rayane and the evidence that they have any significant Barbary haplotypes is doubtful. Academics and zoos have invested a lot in the myth of the genetic survival of the Barbary lion and I can quite understand that it is painful to acknowledge the reality but it is what it is. Plus there are far more important priorities in terms of the conservation of still extant species in Morocco and the Mahgreb.
Well, the lion isn't just another species or subspecies, it's the one on the coat of arms. Not sure what other species could be focused on to be honnest, most of the threatened ones are birds no one cares about. The gazelles could be more protected but it's a difficult topic in Morocco as they're being hunted and there is almost no way to regulate it, it is forbidden but no one really cares in some areas.
I would say it is precisely the species that no one cares about and those that are still extant but whose conservation presents complex in-situ challenges (like the gazelle you mention) that should be focused on and not a subspecies of lion that is no longer with us. That said, I do understand that the lion is culturally significant in Morocco and other Mahgreb countries.
Due to a lack of space. I don't understand this addition as there are enough lemurs on show in the park.
According to ZTL it's a first time holding, but given the diversity of lemurs the zoo had before its rennovation, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they actually had some a few decades ago.
Thanks for that @Rayane ! Well I can see why they would bring these into the zoo then, I think it adds to a pretty impressive lemur collection.
It does but it's not like they have extra exhibits that are in dire need of inhabitants. The Northern bamboo lemurs are off-show and have to rotate exhibit with another primate species in order to get some time in the greenhouse (can't remember which one, maybe the night monkeys?). That's what a keeper told me a year ago. So I don't understand why they would add a new species when one they already have could probably benefit from that space?
Thats a very good point. I hadn't thought of that and I think you are right that perhaps more thought should have been put into issues about space before obtaining more species.
@Onychorhynchus coronatus @Rayane I can affirm that the zoo has black lemurs in the past. They are labelled in past guide books.
According to the french forum Les Zoos dans le Monde, the zoo received : - 0.1 addra gazelle from Schonbrunn last january. - violet-winged grasshopper from Artis. Leszoosdanslemonde • Afficher le sujet - Transferts avec l'Hexagone
