Lion Man » Zion Wildlife Gardens

Lion Man
18-11-2006

The Zion wildlife gardens in the north Island looks interesting they have a good collection of big cats, the very rare Barbary lions look impressive, the first white lion they got was born to two normal coloured lions in a south african game park so his genes are are yet present in any other white lion bloodline.

It will be interesting to see the pair of young King Cheetahs when they arrive.

18-11-2006

i saw this show albeit breifly, on TV a few months ago. does this guy claim to have barbary lions? there are a lot of zoos and private individuals that claim their lions are barbarys - so far i know, even the original "kings collection" is not entirely purbred.

18-11-2006

They are calling them Barbary lions, I have emailed the zoo twice about them and they have not replied as yet, the animals you are taking about were DNA tested Pat and they found their DNA were unique among any other lions worldwide, no other lions have the same genic pofile as this group.

30-11-2006

Yes they are true barbary lions.They have been DNA tested and it is positive.
Even although i live close to Zion I have not been there but i often see/talk to the lion man.

30-11-2006

he also claims to have pure bengals and that white bengals are a seperate subspecies though....

28-12-2006

Its a shame the Zion wildlife gardens website does not have a news page with updated and current news there, last I heard they were waiting on a pair of king Cheeaths from South Africa, maybe Tiny you could ask craig next time you talk to him. The first white lion cub imported looks like a really nice cat.

28-12-2006

arghhh,

whilst i understand that people tend to admire something unusual or rare, do you think maybe some zoos are placing a little too much emphasis abberations such king cheetah and white lions?

we reguarly criticise zoos for breeding white tigers, but arn't white lions and king cheetah just the same? they are rare colour mutations caused possibly by inbreeding in the wild. sure they may have popped up in the population and in some cases indeed become common naturally, but how many of these creatures do we want?

just playing a bit of devils advocate here...

28-12-2006

I couldn't agree more Patrick - it reeks of the old days of the "freak shows".

Whilst I'm not saying that the king cheetah at National Zoo, the white lions at Mogo and Chester the white tiger (ex Dubbo and Taronga), aren't all great animals, it's freak show stuff, and in my mind, not at all something that we should be encouraging.

28-12-2006

This may be true in other parts of the world zoo boy, but is certainly not true here (apart from Mogo messing around with their animals).

All zoos in this region have worked collectively, long and hard, for about 15 years to remove any normal colored lions that are known to have carried white genes from the breeding program. This has been a long process, and finally succeded, until Mogo imported their white lions, against regional recommendations. That is why you won't see any of Mogo's white offspring in any of the major zoos in this region - they are supposed to be sent back to Africa, but knowing Mogo, this is unlikely.

28-12-2006

i hope not.

theres not much point. since the white gene is disadvantageous in the wild, it is really a unwanted element in an australian breeding program. keeping white lions (and seperate from the rest of the regions lion CBP) is going to take up as much resources as another big cat species, and i can definately think of one species that i would rather see than them....

28-12-2006

It's highly unlikely in any reputable zoo in the region. ARAZPA member zoos all voted on a modification to their code of practice last year which agreed not to hold or breed animals of non-typical color morphs. I'll find a copy of the wording and post it in the next day or so.

29-12-2006

i think the white tigers are more of a publicity stunt then any serious conservation program.

29-12-2006

you could look at it from this angle. The white lions are cute and unusual. This would bring in more people - money - which could then be used for more serious conservation measures or to improve the zoo.

29-12-2006

I do not claim to be an expert on animal genetics -- this seems to be a subject that Patrick and others know about ....
....however , I wonder if jay has a point .

Is it possible that the general public can learn something from genetics , animal inbreeding etc , and why zoos are finding it harder and harder to have viable breeding populations if the remaining wildlife in the world are not protected ?
Approx 50% of the Sealion and Penguin exhibits information in Auckland Zoo is actually on plastics and marine pollution -- not really to do with animals , but more of conservation issues .
If a zoo has some "strange" animal , it would be a drawcard , and then if the zoo can somehow explain all about the issues that the the world is facing with these white lions or whatever , and if we dont do anything , there will be no Reasonbly pure blood left .......

29-12-2006

you have a point nigel,

as i often say, the vast majority of zoo animal populations have little or compromised "practical" conservation value. ie; are inbred or of mixed or unkown ancestory and not necesarily ideal for re-introduction into the wild.

but are coat colour mutations really such big drawcards? and do they really have an advatage over their natural counterparts in educating the public? the vast majority of people still think white tigers live in the snow....

but i get what your saying mate and your actually right.

however, i just think that if you deny people the chance to see a white tiger, they just as happily marvel at an orange one....