Perth Zoo building new lion enclosure for breeding program:
Lonely lion and a new 'cubby' house
WA’s only lion has cut a forlorn figure since the deaths last year of Perth Zoo’s beloved brothers Nelson and Mandela, but the ageing African beauty may soon be accompanied by the pitter-patter of little feet.
Perth Zoo is doubling the size of its 30-year-old lion enclosure in a $3 million rebuild that could eventually house as many as eight African lions and a breeding program, allowing Perth to play a big role in safeguarding the endangered species.
The exhibit will feature a specially designed breeding area with indoor dens, a separate outdoor area where a breeding lioness can have privacy with her cubs, a lion “raceway” and a heated-floor “mock rock” cave near a new viewing platform.
Building the den is the easy part — construction has begun. Orchestrating the arrival of the new “pride of Perth” and how 17-year-old sole lioness Shinyanga will fit in is the real challenge.
The animals will most likely come from Australian zoos once they have reached 18 months to two years of age through the national species co-ordinator (or lion matchmaker) at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo. The lionesses will be either US-born or flown here from the east coast, chosen for genetic and behavioural compatibility to form a new pride.
Perth Zoo hopes to welcome its first males once the revamped enclosure in the African Savannah is completed in July next year.
“Ideally we’d like two males and preferably two females to start with but the thing is, how complicated it is to do so,” curator of collections Kay Bradfield said.
“It’s tricky because we’ve got Shinyanga and females will only live with females they are related to.
“So to start with we will seek two quite young males that could be the future breeding males and we will look at integrating her with them.”
After an unsettled start at birthplace Mogo Zoo in NSW and a stint at Taronga, Shinyanga formed a pride with Nelson and Mandela but she never bred and is now too old to reproduce. At almost 18, she is defying the odds of her life expectancy.
“She’s an elderly cat (lions in the wild usually live to 12), but Shinyanga is also in really good health so we think it may be OK to retire her with a companion animal, if we can find another zoo that has older males,” Ms Bradfield said.
Senior zookeeper Becky Thomasson said Shinyanga was “lost” and “all out of sorts” when 14-year-old UK-born Mandela died last November during surgery to have several fractured teeth removed.
His brother, Nelson, had died six months earlier just shy of his 14th birthday after a bout of pneumonia.
The lone lioness was heavily monitored after the losses and despite an initial period of mourning has adjusted well.
“That lasted about a month and then we saw her evolve into the solitary cat you see today. She’s not lonely. She has transitioned to that lifestyle really well. Her appetite is better than ever, she’s confident and she had a vet check last week and appears happy and healthy,” her keeper said.
Options for young males in Australasia:
Taronga Western Plains Zoo:
Baako (February 2015)
Karoo (November 2016)
Virunga (November 2016)
Sheru (November 2016)
Bakari (November 2016)
Melbourne Zoo:
Kashka (October 2015)
Kito (October 2015)
Kubwa (October 2015)
Werribee Open Range Zoo:
Zuberi (December 2016)
Ndidi (December 2016)
