does anyone agree when i say the lion enclosure is to small and they should not put so much mock rock in. the enclosure is ruined with rock and its open aired space.
Colchester Zoo colchester lion
- Thread starter banham.tiger
- Start date
It's not the smallest lion enclosure i've seen and considerably better than their old one ( now mangabeys), but it isn't great i will agree. Compared to the tiger enclosure & even the old white tiger one it does appear fairly poor.
i think that when the white tiger died the lions should move in there and the bears could have the lion rock once it has been refurbished. this would make it better and there are 3 lions so lion rock seems smaller!
karenZOO
Well-Known Member
Yes it is very small considering the lions came from Woburn with their huge lion enclosure! They need a reshuffle and to put them somewhere else with a more natural setting 
The white tiger enclosure had drainage problems and was often very waterlogged so it only had limited re use and works well with the raised platforms for the lemur viewing.
The lions seem happy enough and are usually doing what lions do with the occasional bird snack flown in!! (They have now installed bird scarers to the top of the enclosure, shame the meerkats did not work out! )
The white tiger enclosure had drainage problems and was often very waterlogged so it only had limited re use and works well with the raised platforms for the lemur viewing.
The lions seem happy enough and are usually doing what lions do with the occasional bird snack flown in!! (They have now installed bird scarers to the top of the enclosure, shame the meerkats did not work out! )
yes i think that colchester should have something like whipsnade or africa alive.
While it's not the best (or worst) lion enclosure by far, there's something I was told while at ZSL zoo academy that you have to consider. As big cats, or cats of any size, spend so much time sleeping, the enclosures need not be overly huge, since the animals won't spend most of the day moving around it.
Although I do agree that a better job could have been done with it. As for Sasha's old enclosure, I personally thought the Sun Bears should have gone in there rather than the lemurs.
Although I do agree that a better job could have been done with it. As for Sasha's old enclosure, I personally thought the Sun Bears should have gone in there rather than the lemurs.
IanRRobinson
Well-Known Member
Bears dig though, Rajang. In an area that's got poor drainage it would have been a nightmare.
That's why traditionally they got shoved in pits; unimaginative, but it kept them in. Along with Orang-utans, bears are the great challenge to keep confined!
An interesting comment to come from ZSL zoo academy, incidentally. Some might argue that the current Director doesn't agree!
It was an interesting point they made. During one lesson (if you can call it that) they asked us to suggest what we thought a carnivore enclosure should have. I suggested space and they said yes, but less than you'd imagine necessary. Although tiger territory doesn't exactly adhere to that, I could see it has some merit, as while I was there jae jae only came out of the cave for a feed/display.
I should probably clarify what I said about sasha's enclosure - I meant that I'd have liked to see the bears go in there when nobody knew what was going to be done with it (i.e. 2-3 years ago). That was long before I even discovered zoochat, so I had no idea about the drainage problems. I'd have loved to see the bears in there, shame really, if not for that I think it would have looked great.
Thanks for the heads up
I should probably clarify what I said about sasha's enclosure - I meant that I'd have liked to see the bears go in there when nobody knew what was going to be done with it (i.e. 2-3 years ago). That was long before I even discovered zoochat, so I had no idea about the drainage problems. I'd have loved to see the bears in there, shame really, if not for that I think it would have looked great.
Thanks for the heads up
Last edited:
Colchester however did Woburn a favour by taking Bailey as not many collections want Male African Lions, as they tend to favour Asiatic Lions.
Does anyone know why zoo's can hold both African & Asiatic Lions within a collection (obviously not in one enclosure together.)?
Does anyone know why zoo's can hold both African & Asiatic Lions within a collection (obviously not in one enclosure together.)?
They can't(or not supposed to) I can't think of anywhere in UK that has both, apart from ZSL and there they are kept thirty miles apart on two different sites (London/Whipsnade).
i also believe zsl are redoing there lion enclosure.
That has been rumoured and I would suggest London is one that is currently no better than Colchester's.
I believe it was a 'rule' created by several zoo vets I know one zoo vet had a say so, that African and Asiatic lions should not be kept in the same collection. I think I heard to prevent inbreeding.
However I think it's a bit of a wasted rule because surely majority of places would give them separate enclosures anyway?!
It's a strange world we live in...
However I think it's a bit of a wasted rule because surely majority of places would give them separate enclosures anyway?!
It's a strange world we live in...
I believe its an EEP directive, designed as a safety measure, though vets may have had an influence too. It may seem unnecessary in the West, but in India there have been incidences of cross-breeding in the past, and some of these Lions reached Europe(Jersey, Berlin/Marwell) where it was subsequently discovered they weren't pure. So possibly those previous experiences may also have had some bearing too when new pure Indian Lions were imported in the early 1990's, as a way of ensuring there was no repetition.
That I can understand however with two completely different breeding programmes and so on, my personal opinion is that it is a little bit over the top nowadays.
The only reason we ended up with the mixed 'Asiatic' lions from the previous Asiatic lion line I would have thought was that the founders were mixed. Therefore nothing to do with Zoo hybridisation within that breeeding programme?
The only reason we ended up with the mixed 'Asiatic' lions from the previous Asiatic lion line I would have thought was that the founders were mixed. Therefore nothing to do with Zoo hybridisation within that breeeding programme?
I suspect the rule is in place not to prevent the majority of places from mixing them, but to prevent the minority who *might* - not every collection is as scrupulous with appropriate species mixes.
I can think of at least one collection who might mix Asiatic and African just to see what would happen - and probably add in a zebra, a kangaroo and some armadillos while they were at it!
I think when those original Lions from India were discovered impure, there was no breeding- in fact I'm not sure there was any to start with- certainly neither Jersey or Marwell bred from theirs.
AS TLD said, I think the rule is to prevent any less scrupulous zoos acquiring specimens of both and either accidentally or deliberately breeding from them. It would only require a single impure animal then later entering the Asian breeding population to spoil it. Some say its spoiled already from inbreeding, but that's another matter.