Port Lympne Wild Animal Park Port Lympne 2011

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It could be that no zoos have Barbary Lions at all..... the likely truth is that extant Barbary Lions have been selectively bred to 'look right', from animals that may have some of the right ancestors
 
FBBird said:
It could be that no zoos have Barbary Lions at all..... the likely truth is that extant Barbary Lions have been selectively bred to 'look right', from animals that may have some of the right ancestors
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This has been discussed many times on Zoochat. DNA testing of some the supposed Barbary Lions(including a couple from Port Lympne's stock) in 2009 indicated they did not have any of the same genetic markers which true Barbaries (tested using museum specimens of known locality), show. Even the famous Rabat Lions of Morocco,from which the Port Lympne group are largely descended, are stated, by the Scientific Researchers, not to be from Barbary stock, but instead of SubSaharan origin. So they may not have even some of the right ancestors.
 
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Apparently there is a new (still unpublished?) study which shows that there is actually some barbary in the barbary lions. This study seems to be the reason behind the recent efforts to continue breeding them (transfer of a P.L. male to Hannover, import of 2 females to Hannover from Marocco, now import of new female to P.L. ....). There is also another (older) study that showed that the zoo line of barbary lions had some unique in their DNA that was not present in other lions.
 
Yassa said:
Apparently there is a new (still unpublished?) study which shows that there is actually some barbary in the barbary lions.

There is also another (older) study that showed that the zoo line of barbary lions had some unique in their DNA that was not present in other lions.
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The story goes on then. I don't suppose you can provide a link for any of this? I await the chance to read it with great interest.
 
Sorry, I`d really like to read it myself, I`ve only heard that it exists and that it shows that the lions from Rabat Zoo have a lot of barbary in them. Which explains the recent efforts to revitalze the barbary lion breeding project which had gone almost totally asleep in the last 5-10 years.
 
Yassa said:
I`ve only heard that it exists and that it shows that the lions from Rabat Zoo have a lot of barbary in them.
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Which is in direct contradiction to what the 2009 tests were supposed to have revealed- at least for the Lions that were tested. Maybe others in the Rabat collection have tested differently? or perhaps this is a different test. Of course it would be excellent if its correct.
 
john said:
Which five gorillas are heading for The Netherlands?
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(AFAIK) It was to be; Mataki/Ambam/Boumi/Kush/Djimu. But Boumi died recently which leaves only four living together as a group....

The sixth male in the same house- Timbou- is kept seperately due to past fighting, so I imagine he can't be used to replace Boumi ('once removed, always removed' being the usual rule with adult males in groups)
 
Would be good to have Cheetah cubs at Port Lympne again . I think only one litter were previously reared , many years ago .
 
I doubt they will have cheetah cubs if they only have two males and two females. It is not impossible, just unlikely. These difficult to breed cats usually need a much larger group for it to work.
 
Chlidonias said:
that article (from 2009) is available here Maintaining the genetic health of putative Barbary lions in captivity: an analysis of Moroccan Royal Lions (scroll down to where it says "Files in this item" and you can open the file)
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Thanks for the link Chlidonias...;)

This article is an indepth revue of the status and relatedness of the captive 'Barbary' Lion population as at 2008, plus recommendations for future management. A related studbook is not included but is available from the same authors.

Its not about the further Genetic findings Yassa refers to above.

One interesting thing the article highlights is that although 39 Lions were transferred from the Moroccan Royal Palace to Rabat Zoo, due to deaths, transfers and non-breeders, only six Lions are known to be genetic founders of the current stock still held there. Most of the Lions from this source in European collections were obtained prior to 1974. Its also mentioned that one individual from Rabat is represented as a founder only in the Port Lympne stock (though the relevant table doesn't seem to tally with that). Another factor discussed is whether Lions from the Madrid Zoo strain should be kept seperately from other groupings, at least until further research into their original genetic source was carried out, although they are also thought to have come from Morrocco/Rabat at an earlier stage.. Whether that has happened or not since 2008/9, I don't know, but Port Lympne have recently imported their new female from...... Madrid, probably because this is from the group least related to their own.
 
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