procyonlotor
Well-Known Member
I have a few questions, but I'll fill you in with the background first...
Last summer a dear friend and I took a visit to Port Lympne and were mesmerised by the behaviour of one of the Atlas lions (for anyone familiar with the zoo, they are the ones in the enclosure by the hyaena and dhole at the bottom of the small cat area as there are a few enclosures).
One individual took an intense dislike to my acquaintance and not only stalked him along the enclosure (a behavioural trait I've observed often in big cats in captivity) but threw itself at the glass, repeatedly. The whole observation booth shook as its enormous bulk pounded against the glass and the gigantic paws scratched at the glass. This was obviously a regular phenomena since the glass was etched with scratches.
I visited the zoo again just over a week ago, with a different friend, as I had an interview, but the same individual was placid. I enquired at the end of my interview about the individual in question and discovered that despite its lack of mane, it was in fact a male. I was also asked if there was anything wrong with my friend, to which I laughed and said no. This puzzled the keepers since this male has a reputation for setting about small children, those in wheelchairs and the elderly. The behaviour was not something they had observed as it was always directed at the less able.
So, my questions in regards to this are as follows:
1. Does anyone know anymore about the history of this male? Why would he not possess a mane? Would it be a genetic abnormality?
2. Why would the male take a dislike to my friend? Why would it usually go for the weaker individuals? Is the latter to do with general hunting strategy or did the lion perceive a threat?
3. Stalking behaviour in zoos often lies with inadequate enrichment for the animals. Would this extreme behaviour be due to the same cause, or would it have a different underlying factor?
4. Does anyone have any other incidents of a similar thing occurring in other zoos in which a particular animal would set about people of a certain age or sex? Why would they do that? Past trauma? I know a couple of stories with similar features- one being of an orphan herd of elephants in South Africa that will attack white jeeps as it was from similar vehicles that the parents of the herd were murdered, and the other being of a tiger at London Zoo that became so attached to a female keeper that she had to change section.
5. If this behaviour is due to boredom and stress, what measures do you think could be taken to reduce this aside from the standard methods of using feeds as enrichment?
Sorry this is such a long post, but it's been niggling at me.
Last summer a dear friend and I took a visit to Port Lympne and were mesmerised by the behaviour of one of the Atlas lions (for anyone familiar with the zoo, they are the ones in the enclosure by the hyaena and dhole at the bottom of the small cat area as there are a few enclosures).
One individual took an intense dislike to my acquaintance and not only stalked him along the enclosure (a behavioural trait I've observed often in big cats in captivity) but threw itself at the glass, repeatedly. The whole observation booth shook as its enormous bulk pounded against the glass and the gigantic paws scratched at the glass. This was obviously a regular phenomena since the glass was etched with scratches.
I visited the zoo again just over a week ago, with a different friend, as I had an interview, but the same individual was placid. I enquired at the end of my interview about the individual in question and discovered that despite its lack of mane, it was in fact a male. I was also asked if there was anything wrong with my friend, to which I laughed and said no. This puzzled the keepers since this male has a reputation for setting about small children, those in wheelchairs and the elderly. The behaviour was not something they had observed as it was always directed at the less able.
So, my questions in regards to this are as follows:
1. Does anyone know anymore about the history of this male? Why would he not possess a mane? Would it be a genetic abnormality?
2. Why would the male take a dislike to my friend? Why would it usually go for the weaker individuals? Is the latter to do with general hunting strategy or did the lion perceive a threat?
3. Stalking behaviour in zoos often lies with inadequate enrichment for the animals. Would this extreme behaviour be due to the same cause, or would it have a different underlying factor?
4. Does anyone have any other incidents of a similar thing occurring in other zoos in which a particular animal would set about people of a certain age or sex? Why would they do that? Past trauma? I know a couple of stories with similar features- one being of an orphan herd of elephants in South Africa that will attack white jeeps as it was from similar vehicles that the parents of the herd were murdered, and the other being of a tiger at London Zoo that became so attached to a female keeper that she had to change section.
5. If this behaviour is due to boredom and stress, what measures do you think could be taken to reduce this aside from the standard methods of using feeds as enrichment?
Sorry this is such a long post, but it's been niggling at me.
I have seen this same behaviour with the lions at colchester zoo, stalking young children and buggies but never in any other cats, usually they ignore you in a rather snobish manor!
