Erlebnis-Zoo Hannover Barbary Lions

[joshgrossglaza]

Hannover just aquired 3 barbary lions, 2 female sisters from Morocco
and a male from port lympne zoo. They will become a breeding trio.
The male is named Chalid, he's about 4 years old.
The females I don't know their names, and they're about three. Somebody try to get me their names.
PS: This is the only zoo I know about where there are at least TWO breeding or future breeding female Barbary Lions in captivity. If anyone knows another place, please tell me.

 

[Fergie]

Belfast have 2 female (I think sisters) and a male - all three originated from Port Lympe. Each female has had a litter of cubs each and one young male cub still remains.

 

[Jana]

Olomouc has theoretically 3 breeding females, but only one lives with a male. They have a breeding pair Simon (*Olomouc) with Lily (*Belfast) and their 1,1 cubs. Two females Buzetta and Gina (*Olomouc) live together, male Boris (*Belfast) is alone - because they haven´t accepted him.

 

[john]

What about the barbary animals at Port Lympne?

 

[Pertinax]

Hannover just aquired 3 barbary lions, 2 female sisters from Morocco
and a male from port lympne zoo. They will become a breeding trio.
The male is named Chalid, he's about 4 years old.

I don't know of any male Lion at Port Lympne called 'Chalid'- but there were two males there (brothers) from their last litter, of approx this age. They were named 'Moonlight' & 'Milo' -so is this one of those with a name change?

Its interesting some zoos are just starting up or still persevering with these, while others, such as Port Lympne, appear to have put any further breeding on hold and even castrated some of their males.

 

[Chlidonias]

it is Moonlight renamed: http://www.zoochat.com/315/barbary-lion-hannover-168822/

 

[DDcorvus]

Small question. Is the status of all so claimed barbary lions already cleared out? Is it already sure which animals are barbary lions and which are not. Because if I remember correctly there were not only strong doubts about the so called barbary lions in Europe but as well about the ones in Morocco.

 

[siamang27]

Small question. Is the status of all so claimed barbary lions already cleared out? Is it already sure which animals are barbary lions and which are not. Because if I remember correctly there were not only strong doubts about the so called barbary lions in Europe but as well about the ones in Morocco.

I remember the same thing too and I thought that the decision was that none of them were pure Barbary Lions, but maybe I'm wrong.

 

[Chlidonias]

it swings back and forth. As far as I'm concerned all Barbary lions in zoos have been proven to not be pure (or in most cases, any percentage at all) Barbary lions but the zoos that have them continue to push them as such, and periodically there will be a study that dubiously "proves" them to be Barbaries

 

[Pertinax]

it is Moonlight renamed: http://www.zoochat.com/315/barbary-lion-hannover-168822/

I'll wager Port Lympne were glad to have found another home for him.. and will be looking for one for his brother too if they haven't managed to already.

The debate about the purity of all so-called Barbary Lions continues. DNA testing indicates even the Moroccan 'Royal Lions' at Rabat Zoo are NOT pure Barbary, in fact it suggests they may not even carry Barbary genes at all and be descended from Sub-Saharan Lions instead. As the Rabat Lions were generally regarded as the most pure having this knowledge doesn't help any breeding programme.

Port Lympne's lions are from Rabat Zoo stock(one directly, the others descended from ones at Washington which also came from Rabat.) So Hanover's new male Chalid/Moonlight is very much of this stock, as presumably are the two females they imported from Morocco. So too are Belfast's, which came direct from Port Lympne.

Port Lympne seem to have stopped breeding them altogether now- I believe the breeding male Suliman(Chalid's father, who came direct from Rabat) has even (I believe) been castrated, and maybe another male too. They still promote the 'myth' of the Barbary heritage on their signage etc but appear at the same time to have decided to stop breeding anymore- whether because of numbers or the scientific evidence, or some of both, I don't know.

 

[Pertinax]

I remember the same thing too and I thought that the decision was that none of them were pure Barbary Lions, but maybe I'm wrong.

You are correct. Genetic markers were found in know Barbary museum specimens from North Africa, which have not been found in any of the living Lions, in Morocco or anywhere else in zoos(so far anyway).

As Chlidonias says, no pure Barbaries have been identified, not even any that carry true Barbary genes, and mostly their continued existence now appears to be a myth which some zoos continue to promote, though it is not supported at all by the genetic science. Over the last thirty years various zoos have joined or left the Barbary programme, Hanover is the latest to join it seems. I'm sure all their display notices will wax lyrical about how they are helping to save this 'nearly extinct' species of Lion...

All this doesn't mean there are no Barbary descended Lions anywhere at all as some zoos, e.g. Madrid have Lions that have not been tested. But if they are descended or came from Rabat Zoo originally, we probably know the answer already...not Barbary.

 

[Sharak_Jek]

Binta gave birth to three cubs(one male,two females) on 24 February.