Ordinarily I’d say this was a serious concern. One mustn’t faff with the genetics of wild populations. However in this case, I doubt the lions in question will survive their first month in the wild; let alone breed.
Howletts Wild Animal Park Howletts Wild Animal Park 2022
- Thread starter Quincey
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Ordinarily I’d say this was a serious concern. One mustn’t faff with the genetics of wild populations. However in this case, I doubt the lions in question will survive their first month in the wild; let alone breed.
if it’s of any comfort they are going to a natural enclosure so will still be captive , then soft release ie supplementary feeding then he implied his final goal for them is to be on an enclosed reserve with no other established lion population. So there’s some thought process there.
It is just a thought process focused solely on the individual, going against best practice guidelines for a serious reintroduction...
There is something rather ironic in his statements of how he would like to see the end of animal captivity, yet the lions are still very much captive...!
Or perhaps it's a case of mi casa no es tu casa...
Or perhaps it's a case of mi casa no es tu casa...
Lafone
Well-Known Member
All sounds like it would be wholly more cost effective and indeed kinder to leave them in their actual home and then also contribute to conservation for an actual wild population.
Just seen this on social media about lioness Saffiya (announced yesterday)
The teams at Howletts and Port Lympne are saddened to announce the passing of our beloved Saffiya, who was a true favourite of keepers and visitors to both parks.
Richard Barnes, Animal Manager at Port Lympne, knew Saffiya perhaps better than anyone, and has shared his special memories of this remarkable cat:
"Saffiya, or Safi as she was known to us, was born at Port Lympne in 1999. Her parents were incredible cats; fierce, beautiful and quick to bare their massive fangs to anyone. Sadly, Safi’s mother didn’t look after her and she had to be hand reared by a team of big cat experts including our Head of Big Cats at the time, former Howletts’ animal director Adrian and dedicated big cat keeper, Pete Thompson.
Unlike her parents, Safi grew up to become a friendly lioness and quickly became one of the true great personalities of Port Lympne.
One of my most precious memories of Safi comes from when she helped us to encourage Suliman, her beloved mate, back to health when he fell ill. She refused to leave Suliman’s side and constantly talked to him while tugging and pushing at his head, as if to say 'come on, get up'. I wholeheartedly believe that without Safi’s support, Suliman may have never recovered from his illness.
She also had a habit of bringing her cubs over to show the keepers on the fourth or fifth day after birth, just to show them off and get praise from us. When she was satisfied that we had celebrated sufficiently, she would then quietly take the cubs back off to the den to nurse them.
She also had a gnarly streak, only seen at feed times. One would be walking a dangerous path if they were to mess with her at dinnertime!
Safi will be sorely missed by all the keepers and staff as well as the countless visitors who met her."
RIP Safi, you beautiful girl!
What an amazing age
The teams at Howletts and Port Lympne are saddened to announce the passing of our beloved Saffiya, who was a true favourite of keepers and visitors to both parks.
Richard Barnes, Animal Manager at Port Lympne, knew Saffiya perhaps better than anyone, and has shared his special memories of this remarkable cat:
"Saffiya, or Safi as she was known to us, was born at Port Lympne in 1999. Her parents were incredible cats; fierce, beautiful and quick to bare their massive fangs to anyone. Sadly, Safi’s mother didn’t look after her and she had to be hand reared by a team of big cat experts including our Head of Big Cats at the time, former Howletts’ animal director Adrian and dedicated big cat keeper, Pete Thompson.
Unlike her parents, Safi grew up to become a friendly lioness and quickly became one of the true great personalities of Port Lympne.
One of my most precious memories of Safi comes from when she helped us to encourage Suliman, her beloved mate, back to health when he fell ill. She refused to leave Suliman’s side and constantly talked to him while tugging and pushing at his head, as if to say 'come on, get up'. I wholeheartedly believe that without Safi’s support, Suliman may have never recovered from his illness.
She also had a habit of bringing her cubs over to show the keepers on the fourth or fifth day after birth, just to show them off and get praise from us. When she was satisfied that we had celebrated sufficiently, she would then quietly take the cubs back off to the den to nurse them.
She also had a gnarly streak, only seen at feed times. One would be walking a dangerous path if they were to mess with her at dinnertime!
Safi will be sorely missed by all the keepers and staff as well as the countless visitors who met her."
RIP Safi, you beautiful girl!
What an amazing age
And what is Khari?
A "barbary" lion..
For someone apparently against the holding of animals in captivity, Damian is still no stranger to imports from European collections..
I do think the truth of the matter is rather somewhere in the middle and mind you I am certainly not in agreement with all opinions Mr. Aspinall is communicatie to the media.
Honestly, EAZA has failed to engage him and others like Mr. Aspinall on the subject matter. We have to address the issue of successful at captive-breeding of threatened and endangered species in a more constructive manner (gorillas, giraffes, rhinos, bongo, Grevy zebra, aridland antelope, clouded and snow leopard, gorilla, pileated gibbon, Javan gibbon et cetera). In my perception, we have a big untapped source of individuals for true One Plan Approach Species Programs for both in situ and ex situ and contribute to augmenting wild populations under threat in need of reinforcement or reestablishment.
it’s a good thing it diversifies the blood line and european zoos more often than not euthanise their adolescents for being surplus. Khari’s mother was the only cub of 16 to survive to adulthood because of this culling policy.
Really not sure what the policy thinking behind this is. Making up yet another pair of Lions which probably will not be allowed to breed. He is quite likely to end up being castrated like previous male Jabir. It also leaves the larger pride at PL with no adult male unless they bring one in to pair with Oudrika/Lily, which may be difficult to achieve with her offspring present.
Yeah, Mr. *insert nickname I've used ad nauseum before* really has an amazing track record of bashing a square peg into a round hole...
Source??
Alwaysevergreen
Well-Known Member
There's pictures on Zoo Photography on Facebook of a 7 week old Gorilla at Howletts and on Instagram , posted by someone who always posts Howletts photos.
Do you have the insta tag so I can check the baby out
I saw a pic on their Facebook page where someone did a gorilla experience and posted they had saw the 4 day old baby