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What's happening to Chandra from Bristol if the Twycross male goes there?
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Star-crossed lions' love triangle at Bristol Zoo - Telegraph

Star-crossed lions' love triangle at Bristol Zoo
A lovelorn lioness whose partner can no longer satisfy her needs has sought solace in the arms - or perhaps claws - of a younger lover.

Moti, an Asiatic lioness resident at Bristol Zoo, is the mother of three cubs by Chandra, her fourteen-year-old mate. However, Chandra has been diagnosed as having a low sperm count, meaning that he will be unable to carry out his masculine duties.

Staff at the zoo want Moti to have more children, as the Asiatic lion is highly endangered, with just 350 left in the wild - all of them in the Gir Forest Sanctuary in northern India. To that end, they have brought in a younger leonine Lothario in the shape of Kamal, who at a mere 13 is something of a toy-boy to the fourteen-year-old lioness.

To avoid ugly scenes of bitterness and recrimination, Chandra will be moved to Cotswold Wildlife Park to provide comfort to a female lion whose partner died in November.

John Partridge, the senior curator of animals at the zoo, said: "Asiatic lions are critically endangered, so it is great news to be getting a new male lion.
The prospect of lion cubs is fantastic for Bristol Zoo as well as for the breeding programme as a whole.

"Chandra is an attractive animal and has quite a character - we shall miss him, as I'm sure many of our visitors will. But we invited an expert from Berlin to visit to find out why Chandra and Moti had stopped breeding.

"He found that Chandra has a very low sperm count - it seems that we have been very lucky to have had any cubs from them at all.

"Genetically, Moti is very valuable to the European breeding programme.

"The male from Twycross is a proven breeding male and so we are hoping for at least one litter of cubs in the future

Chandra and Moti’s first cub was born in Bristol Zoo in March 1998, but tragically it only survived a few days. Two more - Indi and Dacca - were born in August of that year, while a third, Aiesha, arrived in 2001.

All three have since grown up and moved to other European zoos.

In an effort to protect the Asiatic lion from extinction, Bristol Zoo Gardens is engaging in a worldwide conservation breeding programme.
 
Sounds like there's a bit of a merry-go-round going on with these Asian males, but it looks like a sensible and well-thought out solution.

Cotswold lose their male
Bristol's non-reproductive male goes to Cotswold as a companion for the old female
Twycross's male goes to Bristol to form a new breeding pair
 
Seems logical, and at least the Twycross male will have a much better enclosure in Bristol than he did in Twycross.
 
It won't be difficult for Twycross to obtain new Asian Lions when the new enclosure is done- they are fairly available & I believe they are the studbook holders anyway?
 
apparently it is not 100% certain that they are getting the spotted cats but if they do I heard that they could go where the scottish wild cats are now. so what will happen to them.
 
Another Lion Update

icCoventry - Why this lion's cubs would be the pride of zoo

THIS handsome chap, the pride of a Warwickshire zoo, is poised to set off on an amorous mission to help preserve the future of one of the world's most endangered species.

His name is Kamal, a rare Asiatic lion, and he has been chosen to spearhead a breeding programme which staff at Twycross Zoo hope will be a roaring success.

Kamal will be leaving his enclosure off the A444 near Nuneaton in the next few days to woo Moti, a lioness at Bristol Zoo and Gardens.

It is hoped that Bristol Zoo will soon hear the patter of many tiny paws.

Asiatic lions are critically endangered and are part of an internationally co-ordinated conservation breeding programme.

It is estimated there are only about 350 Asiatic lions left in the wild and they can only be found in the Gir Forest Sanctuary in Northern India.

Any cubs would be classed as a massive success for the breeding programme.

The breeding programme for the European population of Asiatic lions is co-ordinated by Neil Dorman, curator of Twycross Zoo.

He said: "Asiatic lions are critically endangered and both Moti and Kamal have produced cubs in the past.

"It is hoped they will have at least one litter in the future, which would be wonderful for Bristol Zoo and the breeding programme as a whole."

At the end of March, Twycross Zoo will receive two female lions from Edinburgh Zoo - Kyra, born in April 2006, and Asha, born in May 2006.

The lionesses will be matched up with an attractive "blind date" when he becomes available to join his partners.

As part of redevelopment plans, Twycross Zoo is currently planning a new enclosure for the Asiatic carnivores which will feature the newcomers in a naturalistic, state-of-the-art exhibit.


* Twycross Zoo is planning to celebrate the life and achievements of its founder, Molly Badham, who died last year at the age of 93. The celebration event will take place in a marquee in the zoo grounds on April 26 and 27.


ASIATIC LION FACTS

1 As little as 200 years ago the Asiatic lion ranged across a territory that spread from south-eastern Europe, across south-western Asia and across northern India.

2 British hunters nearly annihilated the Asiatic lion population by the early part of the 20th century.

3 By the middle of the 20th century, with hunting outlawed, the greatest threat to the lion population came from the destruction of its habitat - jungle clearance to extract wood.

4 Concentration in just one area has made the lions highly vulnerable to any kind of biological or man-made disaster.
 
Is Kamal being moved to Bristol because he is too genetically related to the 2 Edinburgh females or is it just so Twycross has no lions which will make it easy when it comes to building the new exhibit. It is though a completely new exhibit not a redevelopment of the present one so wouldn't have thought it would be a problem keeping him at twycross.
 
I would think its because he's more use at present being paired with Bristol's female 'Moti' so they can produce cubs. Also with Kamal out of the way(so to speak) Twycross can demolish or change the old enclosure without having to wait till the new one is built. When the new females come, probably a similar -aged male will be located with the right genetic background-its a bit like breeding pedigree dogs....:)
 
At the moment the zoo hasn`t even got planning permission for the new Lion/Dhole/Striped Hyena complex,its very much in the early planning stage,at the moment the staff involved in this project are fine tuning the design of the enclosure for the Snow Leopards.
 
I'm sure at one point didn't it have Kamal his former mate and their 3 cubs in it so it'll probably b fine holding 3. I'm sure its got 2 seperate areas in the house so the 2 females will have one and the new male will have the other. Any speculation where the new male may come from??
 
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twycross misfit said:
Apparently so.They will be found a suitable male when one becomes available.
Will the old enclosure be big enough for 3.
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They'll be okay in it- at least on a temporary basis. There are two dens but it could get tricky is they started having cubs...
 
No way is it big enough for one lion, let alone two or three.
 
hopefully it'll only be a short term measure anyway if planning permission is granted and the new exhibit is built. It may be a matter of months though :(
 
ashley-h said:
No way is it big enough for one lion, let alone two or three.
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Well, two lions have lived in it for years... I agree its too small really but with another enclosure planned, it would only be temporary.

Twycross do seem to have had a habit over the years of building some enclosures too small for various species, then later having to enlarge or build again for them.
 
I know the two gorilla buildings are totally inadequate sized and don't really suit the needs of captive gorillas. It seems as if they know they will never have the successful large breeding groups like other parks so have cut their cloth to size. I would liked to have seen if Ti and i think it was Ozala had continued to breed if eventually they would have had to build a bigger enclosure for them or just continue to rehome infants to keep the group small enough for the enclosure. Is there any news on a new male to join the group?
 
Bobby_21 said:
I know the two gorilla buildings are totally inadequate sized and don't really suit the needs of captive gorillas.
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Is that the enclosure with Joe (If thats his name...) in one half, and the group in the other half? If so I agree, it's pretty darn crappy
 
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