Edinburgh Zoo Lion Enclosure was open

TDH

TDH

Member
The lion enclosure was open yesterday, but no sign of any keepers and no sign of any cubs, does anyone know if the cubs have been born yet?

I asked the girl on the members gate as we left but she didn't know either, she thought the enclosure was still closed too.
 
not sure if thats a good thing or a bad thing it being open :(... hopefully the blog update will let us know more :)
 
Was at the zoo yesterday, sorry to be the one with the bad news but no lion cubs this time. Royal is now back in with gita and kamlesh however more mating has been observed as the females are both still in season
 
Where the cubs stillborns then, or did the lionesses just not concieve.Not looking good if its stillborn cubs, losing litters the previous year and having one set die of a genetic problem, surprised they haven't been removed from the breeding programme really.
 
Hi Paul

They raised a successful litter three/four years ago... both lionesses... i very much doubt they will be removed from the breeding programme

Going to the zoo tomorrow so i shall see if i can talk to a keeper
 
Yeah i knew about the litters raised a few years ago, its just that chester have been advised to stop all breeding on their lions due to problems, with 2 litters, and it seems that the edinburgh lionesses are in the same boat. be grateful if you found something out :)
 
As well as losses since the rearing of the cubs , there were also unsuccessful births before the two litters were reared . I think these were assumed to be down to inexperienced mothers .
 
I didn't want to start another thread, but just a bit of info, that Kamlesh and Royal have become grandparents. On 9th September, their son, Kumar fathered a cub at Rotterdam zoo with one of the resident lionesses. I don't know anymore info on the cub, as i've only just found it out now.

Hopefully Edinburgh's lions will be breeding again soon.
 
At a recent evening event at the zoo "Animal Question Time" it was mentioned that in some cases where cubs have been still born or died soon after birth (not necessarily at Edinburgh Zoo) tests have shown that they showed signs of congenital heart problems. This appears to be a problem within the capitive population of Asiatic lions as a whole rather than one particular zoo. There also seems to be evidence to suggest that the lionesses seem to be able to pick up on a problem very early on. Rather than put a lot of effort into a cub that might not survive or weaken the gene pool they take iton themselves to kill the cubs and, as with any species, having a dead animal lying around would give away their location by scent, the young get eaten. To me this doesn't suggest bad parenting at all, if correct. Quite the opposite, this, to me, suggests quite remarkable and highly skillful managing of the species, albeit in an artificial environment.
 
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By closed do you mean the lions were not out? Even if there were no lions out you can still see the enclosure.
 
Simon McGlary said:
tests have shown that they showed signs of congenital heart problems. This appears to be a problem within the capitive population of Asiatic lions as a whole rather than one particular zoo.
Click to expand...

Its hardly surprising that defects and abnormalities are being seen(increasingly?) with this species when you consider the founder stock (in the UK) was just 2.2. and they were two sets of siblings. The other 2.2. founders of the European stock that went to Helsinki and Zurich were probably also similarly related, and probably also to the UK lions as well, since they all came from one Indian Zoo.
 
Not really related to the previous discussion, but here goes:

Correct me if i'm wrong, but did the lions use to live on a rockface type enclosure, much like what the macaques are on noadays. I think i vaguely remember it from years and years ago, but i can't think where in the park it would be, and i can't imagine its the same rock as what the macaqes are on now.

Any pictures?
 
Its different from the monkey rock... if you come down the zigzag path from big cat row and look over the fence you can see partly where it use to be... its just along from where the koalas are.. not sure if its used for the koalas outside enclosure because i have never been there when its been warm enough for the koalas to come out!

I found a few old pictures i must have taken as a kid of the zoo... i will need to try and get them scanned and post them.. one is of the male lion sitting on the rock... i'm sure other will remember his name
 
Thanks guys. Was starting to think i was going mad when i was talking about it and just got strange looks from friends.

Lesley, those pictures would be great and very much appreciated.

Did the lions go straight from the rock to the current house, or was there an 'in-between'?
 
The African lions, Jodie and Lumpar lived on the rocks, and when Jodie was put down in 2002, they received the Asiatic lions
 
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