Australasian African Lion Population

Jambo said:
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.
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Evelyn was photographed last year with prominent teats, which made me wonder if she was then heavily pregnant or had just given birth. I’m wondering if she had an unsuccessful litter as there’s otherwise no discerning reason why she shouldn’t have conceived. The initial recommendation could have then changed after they were assured Marion would have female offspring to build up the Dubbo pride.

Maya additionally has her five cubs at Taronga, but it wouldn’t surprise me if those cubs (especially the females) remained at Taronga long term in a non breeding pride. Maya is heading towards being post-reproductive and they’re a cohesive pride that are well suited to the exhibit when they’re not trying to escape it.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Evelyn was photographed last year with prominent teats, which made me wonder if she was then heavily pregnant or had just given birth. I’m wondering if she had an unsuccessful litter as there’s otherwise no discerning reason why she shouldn’t have conceived. The initial recommendation could have then changed after they were assured Marion would have female offspring to build up the Dubbo pride.

Maya additionally has her five cubs at Taronga, but it wouldn’t surprise me if those cubs (especially the females) remained at Taronga long term in a non breeding pride. Maya is heading towards being post-reproductive and they’re a cohesive pride that are well suited to the exhibit when they’re not trying to escape it.
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That would actually make sense. It's quite possible that is the case. Especially with Nilo's line becoming quite represented, I wouldn't be surprised if Lwazi is to be retired at Dubbo with Evelyn and their daughters moving into a new pride with a new male a few years down the line.

The same would probably go for Maya and Ato at Taronga. I talked to a keeper when I visited last year and the plan was to retain the cubs their long term as a non breeding pride. Not sure if the males will stay, but if they can, I'd assume they will. Taronga have retained males in the past (Johari was a recent example). He was retained only until he received a breeding recommendation at Werribee, but he still spent eight years successfully in that pride with his father, mother and sister. The enclosure's spacious enough imo, and there's no desire to breed from either Maya or Ato anymore so it is logical.
 
Jambo said:
That would actually make sense. It's quite possible that is the case. Especially with Nilo's line becoming quite represented, I wouldn't be surprised if Lwazi is to be retired at Dubbo with Evelyn and their daughters moving into a new pride with a new male a few years down the line.

The same would probably go for Maya and Ato at Taronga. I talked to a keeper when I visited last year and the plan was to retain the cubs their long term as a non breeding pride. Not sure if the males will stay, but if they can, I'd assume they will. Taronga have retained males in the past (Johari was a recent example). He was retained only until he received a breeding recommendation at Werribee, but he still spent eight years successfully in that pride with his father, mother and sister. The enclosure's spacious enough imo, and there's no desire to breed from either Maya or Ato anymore so it is logical.
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It’d be ideal if Ato and Maya’s sons could remain in the pride long term, though potentially they could transfer out somewhere together as a bachelor holding. The pride at Paradise Valley Springs has similarly held multiple males over the years - many of which have transitioned from cubs born within the pride to prime aged adults and beyond.

Paradise Valley Springs have actually had greater issues with the lionesses. One female (Scarlett) was transferred out due to conflicts within the pride and recently, there was a feud between two of Luca’s daughter (one is now deceased; the other transferred out). The conflicts appear to be fuelled by the presence of the males (and the females coming in season); so they may choose to retain Maya and her daughters; and transfer Ato and his sons (who are close in age to him) out as an alternative. I guess time will tell.
 
Zoofan15 said:
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
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I wonder whether Baako and Evelyn will be housed off-display or on-display once they are fully introduced. The third lion exhibit now houses the potential breeding pair of hyena, so they won't be able to go into that enclosure.
 
Abbey said:
I wonder whether Baako and Evelyn will be housed off-display or on-display once they are fully introduced. The third lion exhibit now houses the potential breeding pair of hyena, so they won't be able to go into that enclosure.
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Apparently they will rotate the prides. This explanation was offered on Mogo’s socials:

Introducing Evelyn our newest Lioness. She is currently housed off display next to Baako. The aim is to have Baako and Evelyn as a pair and to keep the other lions as their own pride - Snow, Chitwa and Roc.

This intro will take months for everyone to settle into their new prides. This new pairing is to ensure the very best genetics in Lions across Australia.

When everything is settled we will rotate Lions so the public can also meet Evelyn.
 
Between Sabi and Marjan, the 2 lions at Canberra Zoo, who is the dominant male and what happened to their father Kimba, when did he die or leave the zoo? Becuase I remember seeing the two boys with their mother and not their father.
 
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Tam Skylonobi said:
Between Sabi and Marjan, the 2 lions at Canberra Zoo, who is the dominant male and what happened to their father Kimba, when did he die or leave the zoo? Becuase I remember seeing the two boys with their mother and not their father.
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From photos, it appears Marjan is the dominant male as he has the fuller mane. They’re now amongst the oldest male lions in the region. Only the male at Mansfield (born May 2001) is older.

Kimba, died sometime prior to 2015. He was believed to be in his teens, when he came to the park from a circus in 2000 (the circus didn’t keep records) and was thought to have been over 20 years old when he died.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Birth Announcement - Werribee Open Range Zoo

Werribee Open Range Zoo welcomed triplets born 04/06/2023 to Sheru and Nilo. This is Nilo’s third litter and her first sired by Sheru.

The cubs join the pride of three adults, which includes Nilo’s daughter, Asali.

It's The Circle Of Life — Three Adorable Lion Cubs Were Born At Werribee Open Range Zoo
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Patrick Keegan said:
Billabong Zoo's male lion Milo has died following complications following surgery

Full Details here 登录 Facebook | Facebook

It's stated that misty will be reintroduced to her favorite offspring most likely Amari and Zoraya
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Indeed it is the cycle of life, with the happy news of the birth of Nilo's cubs and the sad news of Milo's death.

Given Milo was a founder, hopefully his offspring will be able to be able to go into breeding placements in due course.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Birth Announcement - Werribee Open Range Zoo

Werribee Open Range Zoo welcomed triplets born 04/06/2023 to Sheru and Nilo. This is Nilo’s third litter and her first sired by Sheru.

The cubs join the pride of three adults, which includes Nilo’s daughter, Asali.

It's The Circle Of Life — Three Adorable Lion Cubs Were Born At Werribee Open Range Zoo
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An additional note that this is the first birth announcement of 2023!

I’m hopeful for an eventful year with at least two more breeding pairs at the National Zoo and Mogo Zoo:

Mogo Zoo:

1.0 Baako (28/02/2015) Lazarus x Maya
0.1 Evelyn (22/06/2014) Imported 2018 (United States)

National Zoo:

1.0 Mlinzi (18/06/2013) Leroy x Kiamba
0.1 Nairibi (15/02/2012) Imported 2014 (Denmark)

A third lioness, Makena at Monarto, is off contraception; but she’s failed to mate successfully to date and I’m of the opinion a litter from her is extremely unlikely at this point.
 
Abbey said:
Indeed it is the cycle of life, with the happy news of the birth of Nilo's cubs and the sad news of Milo's death.

Given Milo was a founder, hopefully his offspring will be able to be able to go into breeding placements in due course.
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It’s devastating to lose a founder at the age of just seven years old. He had so much more breeding potential, though it sounds like him and his mate Misty were a close pair that likely wouldn’t have been re-paired with other lions with the region.

It appears the plan is to form a non-breeding pride with Misty and her two sons:

0.1 Misty (05/04/2016) Imported 2016 (South Africa)
1.0 Amari (27/08/2018) Milo x Misty
1.0 Zoraya (04/01/2019) Milo x Misty

Clearly those two males won’t be breeding anytime soon, but I’d hope to see her two daughters enter a breeding pride in the future:

0.1 Kiros (04/01/2019) Milo x Misty
0.1 Nuru (04/01/2019) Milo x Misty

Wellington Zoo plan to expand their lion exhibit into the old Cheetah exhibit in the coming years and with two founder males from Denmark, could establish a valuable line with these lionesses.
 
National Zoo - Update

I’m pleased to confirm Marjan and Sabi are alive and well. They turned 21 years old this month and are now housed off display to live out their retirement years.

After Rubani at Mansfield, Marjan and Sabi are the eldest male lions in the region. They’re also among the top five eldest lions in the region - which includes Savannah (eldest) and Amani (second eldest).

Mlinzi is acting dominant and protective in the presence of Nairibi (an encouraging sign). Staff are hopeful for a pregnancy, though this remains unconfirmed at this stage. Since Nairibi is a founder and Mlinzi is the only reproductively viable descendant of the Melbourne line (assuming Makena remains non breeding), they’re a genetically valuable pair.
 
Jambo said:
From a recent social media post it appears Zambi have a male named ‘Kibulu’ who isn’t listed on the population list. I presume he might be a new arrival?
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Actually, it appears I overlooked him when compiling this list (not difficult when Zambi never replied to my queries regarding their lions). A post on socials dated March 2016 features him at Zambi as a cub; with other posts online noting he was rejected by his mother.
 
Werribee Open Range Zoo - Update:

As reported on socials, Sheru and Nilo’s cubs have been sexed as two males and one female.

It’s great to see the region’s first (and so far only) litter of lions in 2023 continue to thrive.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Werribee Open Range Zoo - Update:

As reported on socials, Sheru and Nilo’s cubs have been sexed as two males and one female.

It’s great to see the region’s first (and so far only) litter of lions in 2023 continue to thrive.
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Quite rare to have a litter of unequal sex ratio, especially for a litter of three cubs!

Werribee have the space to accommodate the two male cubs once they reach maturity; so I look forward to see them grow and bond in the years to come.

The female should certainly be used for breeding going forward; especially with Werribee planning to expand their complex. A pride with multiple breeding females is the goal and this is just the beginning!
 
Jambo said:
Quite rare to have a litter of unequal sex ratio, especially for a litter of three cubs!

Werribee have the space to accommodate the two male cubs once they reach maturity; so I look forward to see them grow and bond in the years to come.

The female should certainly be used for breeding going forward; especially with Werribee planning to expand their complex. A pride with multiple breeding females is the goal and this is just the beginning!
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Yes, it seems like we’ve had a number of all male or all female litters, with the exceptions usually being male-female twins such as Johari and Asali (Taronga) or Zulu and Zalika (Auckland). The youngest members of Monarto’s pride are a litter of 2.1 (though they had littermates that died).

It’ll be great to see Werribee mirror the natural social order of lionesses synchronising their births. It was thrilling to see Monarto achieve this in 2013, but is another rare occurrence within the region - with Auckland Zoo and Paradise Valley Springs being the only other facilities to successfully do so in recent decades. Others have tried unsuccessfully (either loss of a litter or integration issues).
 
Zoofan15 said:
Yes, it seems like we’ve had a number of all male or all female litters, with the exceptions usually being male-female twins such as Johari and Asali (Taronga) or Zulu and Zalika (Auckland). The youngest members of Monarto’s pride are a litter of 2.1 (though they had littermates that died).

It’ll be great to see Werribee mirror the natural social order of lionesses synchronising their births. It was thrilling to see Monarto achieve this in 2013, but is another rare occurrence within the region - with Auckland Zoo and Paradise Valley Springs being the only other facilities to successfully do so in recent decades. Others have tried unsuccessfully (either loss of a litter or integration issues).
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From what I've seen trio litters are usually predominantly one sex (male or female) too, so this is a very rare occurrence! It'll be interesting to see how the dynamics play out and the individual personalities of each individual; Nilo's offspring historically have been quite cautious and quiet cubs, not really the outgoing type.

I believe the next step should be to breed from Asali, but it seems like Werribee likes to have a year in between each litter (not exactly sure why). Anyhow, we can probably expect a litter from Asali next year if anything. With an additional empty exhibit that they have in their hands they can actually afford to breed without having to worry about placement issues down the line.
 
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