West Mids Park

The Kinoshita Circus’ website states that four white lions currently being used in shows were all born in “a UK zoo” and that “when they became 6 months old, they were moved to an animal training facility in UK. They began training there when they were 18 months old”.
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To me that says it all, the safari park sent the animals away then a whole year later they began training and subsequently moved to this circus. Though West Mids may have known, it doesn't necessarily mean that they knew the lions would be trained and moved to a circus abroad...

The breeding of white lions/tigers is another matter, and I think as beautiful as they are, I agree with CAPS that they shouldn't be inbred in zoos. Housing them yes, but breeding no.
 
White lions are, by definition inbred, and since they all derive from one small founder population, progressive inbreeding can be expected to lead to a number of aberrant disorders like skeletal deformities, immune system deficiencies, digestive problems and neurologic conditions. In South Africa, lion breeders intentionally inbreed lions expressing the white coat colour for trophy hunting and for international sales and a number of zoos around the world have bought them. Because white lions are purposely inbred, zoos should not have them in their collections. They might be “cute” but contribute nothing to increasingly urgent conservation needs of their tawny relatives in the wild.

Regarding West Midlands Safari Park not knowing that the lions would be sent to a circus in Japan, that in itself seems a trifle incredible given the easily available evidence and certainly does not excuse transferring white lions to an animal training facility. What still needs to be ascertained is whether these lions were sold to Jim Clubb at Amazing Animals or whether WMSP retains ownership. They have so far declined to answer this question.
What we do know is that WMSP ran a very concentrated white lion breeding programme resulting in 22 cubs being born to 3 females 2006 to 2009. One female, Natasha, produced cubs in 2007,2008 and 2009!
 
LIONAID said:
What we do know is that WMSP ran a very concentrated white lion breeding programme resulting in 22 cubs being born to 3 females 2006 to 2009. One female, Natasha, produced cubs in 2007,2008 and 2009!
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How often do lions breed naturally? one litter every year or every 2 years etc.
I have often wondered about natural breeding as opposed to captive, i assume environmental factors must play a part in nature.
 
Hi Dean - For the lion population in the Okavango Delta in Botswana, the average cub interval for a female is 2.5 years.

This birth interval is subject to many variables including the need for a female to properly raise her cubs to any level of independence.

In the South African lion breeding farms that force breed lions to provide the trophy hunting industry, females can produce cubs every six months if the cubs are removed shortly after birth and then hand raised.

The gestation period of a lioness is 110 days.
 
Have to say its a horrible story but reading the article I did find it strange its attacking west mid for the lions getting sent to a circus when they didn't send them there-surely the main responsibility for that lies with heythrop?
Completely agree with all the issues of breeding white lions though. It's things like this that make me question the point of biaza (yes I know they do good things, but they could do more + it frustrates me)-they conclude that breeding white lions may have severe impacts on animal health + welfare but still allow members to do it.
 
I might be opening a can of worms, when I say this but surely sometimes a park or zoo needs something a bit different and wow to bring the visitors in? If some parks and zoos didnt have the white lions, then they wouldnt have the funds to continue with other less popular animals but ones that still need conservation and time invested in them. Maybe Bizza understands this and thats why they go along with it.

For example WMSP do have a "white fetish" but they also have alot of hoofstock compared to other places. Hoofstock generally doesnt bring the money in; the majority of the public dont care about a random antelope or deer... but dangle a white lion cub in their faces and they will be drawn in huge numbers!

Also inbreeding by itself isnt a bad thing. Look at the elephant seals or fur seals! They were down to really small numbers. Its only inbreeding depression and fixation of "bad" traits which can cause a issue.
 
To reiterate what we said before, it is not really the issue of whether or not WMSP was directly involved in trade with the Kinoshita circus in Japan. What is beyond dispute is that WMSP was breeding white lions which were sent to a facility that provides animals for the entertainment industry. Jim Clubb might call his Heythrop facility a "zoo" but it is not registered with BIAZA or EAZA and is not open to the public except for a few days a year. Jim Clubb used to co-run the Club-Chipperfield circus with Sally Chipperfield, his wife. The connection between WMSP and Clubb should not be suprising given that Jimmy Chipperfield came up with the concept of safari parks in the 1960's. He established parks such as Woburn, Knowsley and West Midland. Jimmy Chipperfield is the uncle of Sally Chipperfield.
 
To CambsVet,
Thank you for your comments. WMSP states very clearly in their conservation objectives that they are involved in both ex-situ and in-situ conservation programmes. We agree with you that fluffy white lion cubs can constitute a draw for the uninformed public. However, the purposeful inbreeding to maintain autosomal recessives has been rejected by not only BIAZA but other world zoo organisations as well. The zoos must realise that they have a conservation responsibility. These days very many zoos have become entertainment parks and their conservation message and involvement is diluted. We do not believe that this is the way forward as zoos always state that the animals in their collections are ambassadors for the conservation of their wild cousins and could even contribute to repopulating wild areas where natural populations of their species have become extirpated.
As a veterinarian, you could perhaps be daily reminded of the problems associated with inbreeding among domestic dog breeds, as only one example. Zoos that breed leucistic and other colour morphs just because they are "cute" or dfferent are not in touch with their conservation objectives.
BIAZA, in their statement about white lions, reminds zoos that there are limited facilities to maintain critically important species endangered in the wild.
This should be the basis for all zoo conservation programmes and perhaps the zoos should become more mindful of what is important versus "cute".
We agree with you that zoos maintain a large number of animals that are not considered especially "charismatic" species by the public despite their conservation plight and we laud their commitment.
 
Thank you for replying tom my question on wild -V -captive breeding LIONAID it was very enlightening,
Friends think I know a lot about animals, I don't think I know that much! but always willing to learn.
dean
 
John Dineley:This is the official response from an spoken person at Amazing Animals to the “allegations” in various newspapers regarding the white lions.

<quote begins>

I am not quite sure what is implied by “allegation”. This seems to indicate that supplying trained captive-bred animals for a presentation to a semi-static show in Japan is illegal. It is not. So long as the Five Freedoms have been met in line with the Animal Welfare Act 2006, no one is breaking the law in regarding to the keeping of animals. This is more a question of aesthetics and the need to prompt an emotive story. Unlike most travelling shows, the Japanese show in question travels no more than four to five times per year.

We note that West Midlands Safari Park have been criticized for breaking a rule set down by BIAZA. I am not sure if this is the case. The rule is page five of their transaction policy under “ A. Breeding and Surplus (b)”. It states that BIAZA collections must not be sent to places that “would not normally be considered suitable outlets” and that they “MAY [our emphasis] include circuses, some research institutions, animal dealers, welfare organisations involved in inappropriate reintroductions”. I don’t like answering for West Midlands Safari Park, but they did know that the lions may be going to Japan.

We note that The Sun newspaper is the first publication to pick up this story. I think a few points need to be straightened out. Firstly that the only thing rare about the lions in question is their colour. White lions are not an endangered species or even a species of lion. They have a recessive colour gene. They are actually African lions, which ARE NOT Appendix I endangered species. Most zoos do not keep them anyway. These particular lions are multi-generation captive bred. Secondly, The Sun newspaper should be very aware of our high animal welfare standards. They and their news group have booked us on numerous occasions. In fact, two years ago one of their journalists even tried to book one of our zebras to be photographed outside a venue in the snow. We refused them on animal welfare grounds.

I fear this is an animal rights inspired campaign used to generate funds for organizations that are not answerable to the charity commission, but instead have very radical agendas. CAPS, for example, are not only opposed to circuses but zoos as well. They are even seeking to ban the Trafford Centre Aquarium. Animal rights has a very different agenda to animal welfare, and I am greatly concerned that mainstream media provide the former with this type of platform.

<quote ends>
Via FaceBook Zoo News Digest.
 
LIONAID said:
Jim Clubb might call his Heythrop facility a "zoo" but it is not registered with BIAZA or EAZA and is not open to the public except for a few days a year.
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Registered with BIAZA or EAZA? These are both membership only zoo trade organisations and in the UK this has no bearing on to whether one can consider oneself a "zoo" or operate as one. The term zoo is defined in the UK Zoo Licensing Act and according to DEFRA are:

"....places where wild animals are kept for exhibition to the public, and to which the public has access, with or without charge, seven days or more a year..."​
If Heythrop wanted to obtain a Zoo License I suspect it would have little problem obtaining one as its animal accommodation meets or exceeds the current criteria in this area. However, public display isn't it primary purpose but the supply of trained animals in events and media.

That said, I do agree with the premise that from a conservation point of view white lions serve very little purpose aside from taken up valuable space in zoological collections that could be used for genuinely endangered species. Although I can understand from a basic attraction point of view why zoo would wish to display these animals. And it's not also totally unreasonable for zoos to display none endangered species for educational and other reasons.
 
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