Australasian African Lion Population
- Thread starter Zoofan15
- Start date
Fingers crossed she will conceive soon. She’s the only of the three sisters yet to successfully conceive; but hopefully with the other two females on contraception this time around, she’ll have a better chance.
Unfortunately I don’t hold out much hope for Makena breeding as I was told the same over a year ago now. Apparently she’s uncertain about the males mounting her, so appears to be a behavioural non breeder which is unusual for a lion mother reared in a large pride.
Monarto also advised Nia won’t be bred from due to her previous loss of her litter, which required medical intervention.
It would be nice if Makena bred as she’s one of two viable descendants of the Melbourne line. Her post-reproductive mother is the daughter of Maalo, who was born at Melbourne Zoo in 1999 to Tsavo and Jespah. The other is her brother, Mlinzi, who will hopefully breed with Nairibi at the National Zoo.
Interesting you mention that.
Her aunt (Jaarah) also faced a similar dilemma at Werribee when they attempted to breed her with Tonyi and Tombo. Apparently she never let them ‘fully’ mate her. I’m not saying it’s genetics, but perhaps a behaviour modelled by the mother?
That’s interesting. I would be wondering in Jarrah’s case if that was due to her growing up without the presence of an adult male lion. Tsavo died either shortly before the birth of Jarrah’s litter or shortly after and her elder brothers were transferred out around this time.
With regards to Makena, if Mlinzi fails to mate Nairibi (a proven breeder), that suggests some deficiency on Kiamba’s part. I know she was a low ranking lioness with the introduction of her and her first cub (a single female) delayed for several months after the birth in 2011. A similar scenario in 2013 may have deprived her twins of the social exposure Tiombe’s cubs had.
Swanson02
Well-Known Member
I was told the same thing about a year ago, so I'm not getting my hopes too high, Imo Makena could be potentially unresponsive to the males, so all previous attempts have failed.
If Makena fails to breed, this in turn means succession in the pride will be represented solely by the daughters of Husani
Monarto’s lionesses:
0.1 Husani (24/04/2013) Leroy x Tiombe
0.1 Nia (24/04/2013) Leroy x Tiombe
0.1 Makena (18/06/2013) Leroy x Kiamba
0.1 Adira (16/02/2020) UNK/MULT x Husani
0.1 Chikondi (16/02/2020) UNK/MULT x Husani
0.1 Zahara (16/02/2020) UNK/MULT x Husani
0.1 Malika (24/01/2021) UNK/MULT x Husani
Her daughters may well be half sisters of each other given there’s three males in the pride, but this would be negligible considering they’re all full brothers.
I wouldn't hold my breath, but will keep my fingers crossed on Makena, especially considering there are so few descendants of Melbourne's lions.
Husani's latest litter are growing up fast; Malkia is the only one who still looks 'cub-like', the boys have manes starting to come in.
Husani's latest litter are growing up fast; Malkia is the only one who still looks 'cub-like', the boys have manes starting to come in.
It's interesting how the Melbourne line can go from over-represented to at risk of being lost to the region in a relatively short amount of time. Hopefully Mlinzi and/or Makena will be able to breed and continue the line.
Melbourne were historically one of the main breeders of lions in the region, with several litters born each decade. Even as contraception became commonplace and other zoos ceased breeding, Melbourne welcomed four litters between 1990 and 2000 by virtue of having the largest complex in the region.
The Melbourne line was paired thrice with new lines in the 2000's but as mentioned, one of these failed to yield cubs and two of the three surviving cubs from the other pairings were exported overseas. The Melbourne line is very well represented in Asia!
This is interesting to me, I only knew some of this.
Other than Maalo with the females at Adelaide, and Jarrah with Tombo and Tonyi at Werribee, which is the third pairing?
The three pairings I was referring to were:
Adelaide Zoo:
Maalo (1999) and Amani (2001): 2.1.1 cubs (2.1 surviving)
Maalo (1999) and Yizi (2001): 0.1 cubs (none surviving)
Werribee Open Range Zoo:
Tonyi (1996) and Jarrah (2000): no cubs produced
I think Tombo was paired with Jarrah too wasn't he? I remember seeing an episode of the Zoo from back then where Tombo was her initial mate but failed to mate with her successfully so the zoo had to try with Tonyi, but he too was unsuccessful.
In the end, they conducted fertility tests and determined both males were still fertile, so it was a mystery to why Jarrah never fell pregnant.
Keepers did mention though, it was possibly attributed to Jarrah's rather dominant personality, and the fact she never really got along with the two males and didn't really allow them to mate her properly.
In her later years she was then separated from the two males after breeding attempts failed, and kept apart.
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Jarrah was housed with both males, but Tonyi was the dominant male of the two brothers and would have had mating rights over Tombo. From what I can see across media reports, Tonyi remained the dominant male until his death (by which time Jarrah was post reproductive).
Sometimes in prides with two or more lionesses, the beta male mates with females; but it’d be unusual to see this tolerated by the alpha when there’s a single lioness in the pride and she’s in season.
From what you’ve said, it sounds like it was a behavioural issue on Jarrah’s end. I saw a video of three lionesses from her maternal line being introduced to the males from Bullens (Tsavo and Kruger) and they were clearly a force to be reckoned with. Though in Jarrah’s case, I’d attribute it to the lack of a male presence growing up first and foremost.
She had five brothers that she lived with for two years? Do you mean the lack of an adult male. Tsavo died a few months after their birth didn't he?
Yes, I was thinking the same that it must be a behavioral issue that has possibly been passed on over generations by witnessing the behavior of the older females around males.
Yes, Tonyi maintained the dominant role at Werribee, but they were pretty much evenly matched. In some situations Tombo asserted the role as dominant male (especially when they were introduced to Jarrah). He was actually mentioned as being more keen on mating with her which I found interesting.
Yes, I was referring to the lack of an adult male to model typical male behaviour (dominance over the lionesses etc). Her littermates would have been too young to assume that role in the pride, so she wouldn’t have received that social grounding from them. I don’t have a date of death for Tsavo, but believe it was either late 2000 (after the litter was conceived August 2000) or early 2001.
Tonyi and Tombo were very evenly matched. Tombo was initially the dominant male at Auckland Zoo; but the hierarchy changed in 2001, when the females were introduced and Tonyi won dominance (and mating rights over Kura) following a lengthy dispute between the males. Tombo subsequently sired Sheeka’s cubs.
Zulu and Malik at Auckland/Wellington were an interesting combination. Zulu was a month older than Malik (a natural advantage); but they inherited the personalities of their respective mothers - Zulu was placid; Malik dominant and ferocious. The younger male assumed dominance.
Mogo Wildlife Park - New Breeding Lioness
Evelyn has transferred from Taronga Western Plains Zoo to Mogo Wildlife Park, where she will be paired with Baako. This is an exciting pairing as despite their extensive representation, Baako’s parents are founders; and Evelyn is a founder.
Snow, Chitwa and Roc will remain as their own pride.
1.0 Baako (28/02/2015) Lazarus x Maya
0.1 Evelyn (22/06/2014) Imported 2018 (United States)
0.1 Snow (00/00/2004) Imported 2004 (South Africa)
0.1 Chitwa (10/08/2014) Mac x Snow
1.0 Roc (00/04/2022) Baako x Chitwa
Evelyn has transferred from Taronga Western Plains Zoo to Mogo Wildlife Park, where she will be paired with Baako. This is an exciting pairing as despite their extensive representation, Baako’s parents are founders; and Evelyn is a founder.
Snow, Chitwa and Roc will remain as their own pride.
1.0 Baako (28/02/2015) Lazarus x Maya
0.1 Evelyn (22/06/2014) Imported 2018 (United States)
0.1 Snow (00/00/2004) Imported 2004 (South Africa)
0.1 Chitwa (10/08/2014) Mac x Snow
1.0 Roc (00/04/2022) Baako x Chitwa
Great news to see this new pairing.
Obviously Evelyn and Lwazi didn’t work out, but it’s good to see she’s being given another chance with an arguably more valuable male in Baako.
I’m open to correction, but I’m assuming Lwazi and Evelyn were never given the chance to breed (or she had an unsuccessful litter). They did at least form a cohesive pride with Marion and the cubs, but with that bloodline assured by Marion’s litter, it makes sense for Evelyn to be paired with a different male.
Baako, has been tied up at Mogo with his own pride until now. White lions aren’t part of the regional breeding programme; and there was discussion of their direct descendants being similarly removed (which would include Chitwa), so possibly Baako’s previous offspring at Mogo were bred for their own reasons; with this new pairing obviously being an official recommendation.
The initial plan was to breed Lwazi with both females; and there was still hope Evelyn would conceive following the birth of Marion's cubs last year but obviously this hasn't worked out for some reason or another and she's been given another shot with Baako at Mogo.
Although Lazarus's line is well represented, Maya's line is only currently represented through Baako at the moment (although one of his younger brothers, Sheru is currently in a breeding situation at Werribee). It's unlikely Maya will breed again, so with most of her offspring in non breeding situations, I'd imagine there would've been a strong desire to make the most of Baako.