African Lion Safari African Lion Safari

Two White Bearded Wildebeest were born within the last week. Gender to be determined.

As well, one of the Rothschild Giraffe is expecting. Baby should be born for next June 2018.

A Zebra foal or two are expected at anytime.

Along with the births there is an uncountable amount of livestock born in the North American drive thru this includes Fallow Deer, North American Elk, Bison, and Markhor.
 
Another white bearded Wildebeest was born yesterday. This facility doesn't have many animals but they do have phenomenal hoofstock breeding.
 
Went to African Lion Safari for the first time since 1999 :O I had a great time, lots of renovations and changes since I've last been. I miss the tigers; their absence was felt to me. And I missed the Takin (the bus didn't go through their area for some reason). But still had a blast! It was fantastic to see a proper herd of elephants with a dynamic herd setting; I could see why they are world renown for their elephant breeding program. The lions were active; I caught two youngster white lions playing and the adult males looking majestic. Silly baboons sliding down from the front of the bus :P Also fantastic was seeing the herds of zebra and wildebeest and other hoofstock, and rare Baringo giraffes, so close up. Also great was seeing the cheetahs.

Among the other changes, etc since I've last been include:

-a Red-river Hog Exhibit

-There is no longer a Canadian horse (another animal I adored there) demonstration (apparently stopped in 1999 so I saw them before they left); their old horse riding ring has been left abandoned by the look of it. The "Elephants and Friends" show has taken the place of "Animals and Man" but still highlight the role of domestic species, and this show I saw today showed off their Reindeer and Dromedary and Bactrian camels.

-Pets Corner has gone through some changes; the area where the goats/deer could probably do with a fixing up but seems adequate for the animals. I got to pet a lovely little rat named Bandit (I have three girls at hoe; I looove ratties), there was a docent/keeper going around with one as an animal ambassador. Red-River Hog exhibit is in this area. There are Flemish Giant rabbits on display but there is no longer a walled in rabbit pit (that I think was an original 1969 exhibit; not too much remains of that era from what I saw).

-Bird displays have been renovated since I've been there and a great improvement since I last went there; there are massive cages for the Bald and Golden Eagles and vultures. I got to see a vulture feeding and enrichment demonstration at 11:30 that also showed off the Malibu Storks.

-There is a nature interpretive centre of sorts in the entrance, showing animal skulls, skeletons, a taxidermied cheetah etc. Interesting artifacts but didn't get to spend too much time there.
 
Just got back from the park after a busy day out. It didn't go as well as planned thanks to my mother, but I liked it.
 
Also, i'm going to upload my first photos to this site by at least tomorrow. Got some good pictures of George, Opal, and Rose today.
 
Hello All,

I visited African Lion Safari last year in late May/early June 2017 with my dad. Everything was going smoothly up until we drove through to the Timbavati White Lion reserve. There, one of the teenage male lions stopped by was clawing and biting our car. He left visible teeth marks and some minor scratches on the front of the vehicle. Nonethelss, it was a great day out as this is the biggest White lion pride I have ever seen in my life.

I'm just curious to know before I visit once more this summer, how many Tawny lions there are at the park & their names?
Also, how many White lions there are at the park this year & their names?
Thanks!
 
I just visited African Lion Safari yesterday. Hope to upload pictures and post them. Hopefully I can show other ZooChatters what African Lion Safari looks like today, as well as most of it's current collection.
 
That will be cool to look at TheWalrus. I haven't been there since I was just a kid so I remember nothing other then baboons on the car and seeing the elephants.
 
I'm currently uploading photos from my last visit throughout the day when I can, just letting you know. Its my first time taking photos, so don't blame me for shoddy pictures.
 
Uploaded some photos from my visit recently. They are now in the African Lion Safari gallery.
 
Meaghan Edwards said:
-There is no longer a Canadian horse (another animal I adored there) demonstration (apparently stopped in 1999 so I saw them before they left); their old horse riding ring has been left abandoned by the look of it.
Click to expand...
Huh, I never knew ALS had a horse show. If Google Maps is anything to go by, was it next to the current discovery center if i'm not mistaken?
 
Yi Qi said:
Natasha gave birth to her fifth calf named Sunita last November (specifically Wednesday 14). The zoo's on a roll with breeding asian elephants, aren't they?
Click to expand...

They sure are!!! Compared to other institutions throughout North America, African Lion Safari has the most successful elephant breeding program. Twenty one elephant calves born since 1991. That's OUTSTANDING!!!

1.0 Colonel (Buke x Whimpy) 1991.04.046
1.0 Nikolai (Tusko x Kitty) 1993.05.02
0.1 Natasha (Tusko x Whimpy) 1994.02.27
0.1 Piccolina (Alexander x Lilly) 1994.12.11
1.0 Samson (Calvin x Kitty) 1998.05.04
1.0 Albert (Calvin x Lilly) 1998.11.29
1.0 George (Calvin x Phoebe) 1999.10.21
1.0 Johnson (Calvin x Kitty) 2001.04.21
0.1 Opal (Rex x Natasha) 2005.11.04
1.0 Logan (Rex x Lilly) 2006.04.13
0.1 Emily (Rex x Kitty) 2006.04.23
1.0 Chuck (Rex x Mali) 2008.07.15
1.0 Jake (Rex x Natasha) 2009.11.02
0.1 Nellie (Johnson x Natasha) 2013.08.02
0.1 Hannah (Johnson x Lilly) 2014.10.19
0.1 Gigi (George x Emily) 2015.02.24
0.1 Anna May (Johnson x Opal) 2015.05.04
0.1 Rose (Johnson x Natasha) 2016.02.28
0.1 Luna (Johnson x Lilly) 2018.08.17
1.0 Onyx (Johnson x Opal) 2018.08.18
0.1 Sunita (Johnson x Natasha) 2018.11.14

The only institution that has a greater number of successful births is the Ringling's Center for Elephant Conservation. In all, Ringling has produced 43 successful births since 1983.

0.1 Tonka (Vance or Hugo x Minyak) 1983.08.23
1.0 Roman (Vance x Sid) 1983.09.09
0.1 Targa (Vance x Birka) 1983.11.23
0.1 Luna (Vance or Hugo x Josky) 1984.01.01
1.0 Smokey (Vance x Mala) 1984.02.02
1.0 Luke (Vance x Tilly) 1985.11.24
1.0 Bo (Vance x Sid) 1987.01.22
1.0 Ceasar (Vance x Minyak) 1987.04.02
1.0 Ned (Vance x Josky) 1987.10.10
1.0 Hank (Vance x Mala) 1988.01.16
0.1 Angel (Vance x Sally) 1988.12.30
0.1 Karnaudi (Vance x Carina) 1990.04.13
0.1 Belle (Vance x Sid) 1991.01.06
1.0 Benny (Vance x Josky) 1991.12.19
0.1 Tanya (Vance x Mala) 1992.04.04
0.1 Maya (Vance x Sally) 1992.04.17
1.0 Tommy (Vance x Birka) 1992.05.25
0.1 Juliet (Pete x Icky) 1992.12.30
1.0 Romeo (Pete x Alana) 1993.01.10
1.0 Kenny (Vance x Minyak) 1994.08.19
0.1 Bonnie (Vance x Sid) 1994.10.29
1.0 Benjamin (Vance x Josky) 1995.02.03
0.1 Shirley (Vance x Mala) 1995.02.19
0.1 Kelly Ann (Vance x Sally) 1996.01.01
1.0 Doc (Charlie x Alana) 1997.05.08
0.1 Angelica (Charlie x Icky) 1997.06.23
1.0 Osgood (Charlie x Emma) 1999.08.16
0.1 Sara (Charlie x Icky) 2001.04.16
1.0 Gunther (Charlie x Mala) 2001.11.18
0.1 Rudy (Charlie x Sally) 2002.01.29
0.1 Asha (Charlie x Alana) 2002.03.05
1.0 P.T. (Charlie x Josky) 2002.05.21
1.0 Riccardo (Romeo x Shirley) 2003.12.05
0.1 Aree (Charlie x Mala) 2005.04.21
1.0 Irvin (Charlie x Alana) 2005.06.01
0.1 Bertha (Charlie x Icky) 2005.07.30
0.1 Mable (Romeo x Shirley) 2006.04.06
0.1 Sundara (Charlie x Sally) 2008.11.09
1.0 Barack (Doc x Bonnie) 2009.01.19
0.1 April (Charlie x Alana) 2010.04.03
0.1 Piper (Romeo x Shirley) 2012.08.13
1.0 Nate (Romeo x Sally) 2012.12.15
1.0 Mike (Romeo x Angelica) 2013.06.27

African Lion Safari's success comes from their ability to provide their elephant herd with natural social dynamics (matriarchal herd structure) and vast woodland for roaming and exploring.
 
This birth is an excellent addition to the North American population!

However their actual breeding success is hardly due to their setup and matriarchal structure (which does undoubtedly help with long term calf survival however). It can be attributed strongly to management style and the right animals. Elephants are incredibly prolific animals left to their own devices, and ALS allows this, with natural 3-4 year calving intervals and having their cows first calf at around 10 years old (another good example of this is the Emmen zoo, with 29 calves born and the majority of them surviving to maturity). Of course they also practice social integration with their bulls from a young age, which helps create cows that stand well for bulls to breed them and bulls that know what to do with a cow. In comparison, the asinine management style in the US is shooting them in the foot. Genetically valuable bulls held in isolation wasting away never breeding, pathetic 5-10 year calving intervals, and breeding cows for the first time in their mid to late teens. Quite literally the only zoo in the entire US region doing an acceptable job right now is Houston. Virtually all other zoos with breeding cows have strong potential, but are absolutely squandering it away.

In an ideal world, Sabu and Dahlip would come from the US up to Canada to proliferate their valuable genes among ALS's many cows, but alas, their destiny seems to be doomed to simply waste away at their respective institutions. *sigh*
 
Charlie Gray is the mastermind behind all of these procedures, and he's involved in the European Asian community as well as the American and also has learned from and credits elephant pioneers from circuses. (A couple of these little girls are actually named after such non-zoo people). Considering the much larger pool of breeding females that Ringling had, ALS has had the much greater achievement in starting from a very small herd. And he has shared; Oregon and ABQ have suitable proven males in Samson and Albert that they may not have otherwise been able to procure.

In fact, ALS lineage includes Calvin and Tusko, both of whom are represented throughout the US population. Johnson has sired six of the seven (!!!!!!!!) females born in the last five years, so ALS will indeed need a new, unrelated male to sire the next generation of calves. I asked him about this, thinking out loud of possible males. He rejected two outright, saying that both were from lines that had certain medical problems. Gray has managed to be SELECTIVE in his breeding, refusing to use specimens with medical problems. AZA has few choices, lucky to find a genetically-appropriate male for each of our 12 breeding zoos. This could be part of his success. ALS has lost only one calf to EEHV, 1 out of 21, a rate far lower than here in the US. H


Gray does have two advantages that make all of this success possible. One, he is not constrained by AZA rules about protected contact. While I of course advocate for protected contact, much of what ALS does mentioned above has factored in breeding success. Males and females do interact; Gray explained that by giving no one male "alpha" status, musth is suppressed in all males. Gray allows them their natural behaviors, like the big herd swim at the end of the day or showing strength and smarts in an exhibition. While some might call these "performances," everything makes the public more aware of the awe and Majesty of the species. People who get up close and personal are likely to spread the word and become advocates for this endangered species. As importantly, visitors LOVE (myself included) being part of this, and they patronize ALS. Those admission fees for this for-profit organization literally make the elephant program possible.

Secondly, Gray has active contacts abroad. His first two elephants, Lilly and Phoebe, came from Israel, and he plans to get his new breeding male from Europe. With our own
gene pool getting closer and closer, zoos from all over the world should be exchanging unrelated males. CITES bans us from bringing animals from the wild, but we should be learning from Gray's larger vision and looking to create a world-wide SSP between zoos holding Asian elephants.
 
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