Asiatic Lions in the U.S.?

kbaker116

kbaker116

Well-Known Member
Are there any asian lions in the U.S. I didn't see any on the ISIS website. I was reading in my outdated book on zoos of America and it said the Knoxville Zoo had some. Does any one know about them and why are they in European Zoos and in U.S. I also heard San Diego used to or still has some.
 
The lions I saw a couple of weeks back in Knoxville were African if you belive the signage. I think they'd want to distinguish if they were Asians. Audubon had a couple in the 90s, but the ones they house now are Africans. I emailed them a year or so ago and they explained that the Asians had been gone for years.
 
You are referring to a time way back when the SSP had an individual programme for the Asian lion. That is now defunct as it was discovered the lions were of mixed African and Asian ancestry. Hence, their conservation value was null and void and the programme was discontinued.

Since then, the SSP has concentrated on breeding pure-bred African lion subspecies.
 
Kifaru Bwana is exactly right. There is a section on this exact topic in the book "Sailing With Noah" by Saint Loius Zoo director Jeffrey Bonner. He personally disagrees with the decision to set up an SSP for african lions and feels the AZA should have set one up for asian lions instead.
 
Arizona Docent said:
Kifaru Bwana is exactly right. There is a section on this exact topic in the book "Sailing With Noah" by Saint Loius Zoo director Jeffrey Bonner. He personally disagrees with the decision to set up an SSP for african lions and feels the AZA should have set one up for asian lions instead.
Click to expand...

Why not both?
 
San Diego Wild Animal Park exhibited aisan lions (no clue as to how many or if they bred) back in the 70's, 80's and maybe the 90's in the old african lion exhibit

Assiniboine Park Zoo in Winnipeg is also due to recieve a pair, there in the process of reconstructing there old panda exhibit into a new home for the asian lions (For all we know, it will probably just end up like the LA Zoo golden monkey situation and they'll have to fill it with africans instead)
 
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Awhile back I read the Book "Monster of God" by David Quammen. He dives pretty deep into the situation with the Gir lions. The local Maldhari herders don't have too much trouble with lions (leopards are another story), but they do occaisionally have to remove problem animals that take to feeding on livestock. It seems like these animals should be welcome in collections. It beats the alternative of euthanasia.
 
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