Lion cub Dissapeared off the face of the earth! » National Zoo and Aquarium

Lion cub Dissapeared off the face of the earth!
05-07-2008

Does anyone know hat happened to the National Zoo's lion cub born in 2003.

He was born to Kimba and Millie in 2003 and had two brothers called Sabi and Marjan. He was described as Millie's favourite cub.

Since 2004 I have heard know mention of him anywhere. Has he died, has he shifted zoos or has he simply vanished into thin air?

05-07-2008

I thought it was a female. Could be wrong but yes he/she has died.

01-08-2008

All 3 lion cubs were male - and yes he did die.

01-08-2008

Has Millie bred since 2003?

How many lions and tigers are now at NZ&A? I guess there is also an exhibit empty with the recent death of Aster, the last tigon.

01-08-2008

The last time I went there (and we are talking a year ago - but I did do the WOW all-day tour so I got a lot of goss)...they had 5 lions (Millie & her 2 boys, the cub's father and a female named Delilah - both very old) and two tigers - an ex-Dreamworld Bengal and a Sumatran.
They haven't bred from Millie again because, as I understand it, those bloodlines have been well integrated into the Australian population of lions, and up until recently, they did not have anywhere to house them. Plus, the male is rather old and can't be separated from Delilah.
From what a keeper told me the first time I went to the National Zoo, they are still building up their reputation as a zoo and a breeder of endangered species so most other zoos would only allow them to obtain their older, unrequired stock.

01-08-2008

And actually - they have now 2 exhibits empty as the lost a BengalX tiger a couple of years ago and her exhibit would be empty.

03-08-2008

By my reckoning does this mean that two of the three big cat exhibits on the 'grand pier' are empty? I assume that the ex-Dreamworld 'Bengal' and ex-Perth Sumatran male are in the first two exhibits as you come down the hill.

They must be spitting chips to have so many of their displays empty.

03-08-2008

I haven't been there for a year...but that would be my guess.
They could always move the old male and old female (Delilah) from the back enclosure (which is smaller than the others and doesn't provide a real good opportunity for the public to see them) into one of the enclosures on the 'catwalk' as they call it.

04-09-2008

I'm currently working at the zoo and all enclosures except one (so 2 out of 3) on the catwalk (where Delilah and Kimbah were but have since moved into Asters old enclosure) are in use. I know that next year or the year after they are looking at getting a female sumatran for Barani and she will possibly/ probably live in Delilah and Kimbahs old enclosure. In fact, they could even be getting more lions but I can't remember. Different keepers say different things. The catwalk is where the lions are kept which is separate from the viewing platform where the two tigers are kept.

So as for spitting chips, I don't think they are. There's only one enclosure that isn't filled anymore.

04-09-2008

My point is that there are six big cat (lion/tiger) exhibits which are a major proportion and feature of the zoo, that exhibit a total of 2 tigers and 4-5 lions. I'd be a bit peeved given how much money was spent on the exhibits...

04-09-2008

Well there's 5 which can be viewed by the public (there's one around the back where food prep is) and i'm sure they had some sort of idea that Asta would be passing away at some point. So guess they could think of it as more space for new animals instead of an empty exhibit because the money has already been spent to make it.

05-09-2008

My understanding was that Sumatran tigers were hard to come by. Is there a plan to import a new male lion?

05-09-2008

Apparently one's been found. And I don't think so, seeing as Marjon and Sabi are both young. I'd say there would be a new female before a male.