Lion Cub Questions
Posted at 11:23 am September 5, 2006 by Marcia Redding
Lion Camp at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park is home to a growing pride of African lions. Oshana gave birth to Abena (pictured) and Bakari on May 16; three cubs were born July 20 to Mina. Keeper Marcia Redding is keeping us posted on their development. See her previous blog, Lion Cub ABCs.
Several folks have posted questions about our lion cubs. Calvin asks when Mina's cubs will be on exhibit. Most likely, they will be at least 10 weeks old before they are big enough to negotiate the exhibit. They are just six weeks old now. Calvin also asks if all five cubs at Lion Camp will stay at the Wild Animal Park. Most probably they will not, as these cubs represent a new genetic line from South Africa. They will be in great demand as breeders in lion conservation programs all over North America. However, none will leave the Park until they are at least six months old, and probably older. Our original six lions from South Africa were received at six months of age and they made the transition beautifully.
Jennifer wants to know if we have two maternity suites, or did Oshana and her two cubs have to move out to acommodate Mina and her litter. We only have one maternity area, but Oshana's cubs had graduated to adult quarters with their mother before Mina needed the facility. In a pinch, it would be possible to modify another room in the house if need be, but chances are we won't have two litters close enough in age to need two suites. Jennifer also asks what kind of behaviors we teach our lions. The basics are: sit, down, rise up (stand on hind legs with paws on mesh), target (touch keeper's fist with nose), seat (jump on shelf in bedroom), shift (move from room to room), and stay. These behaviors all have value in our daily routine, and enable us to take better care of the lions. In a future blog I will go into more detail in describing our training program.
Several folks have asked if all five cubs and three adults will ever be together on exhibit. Probably not, as the logistics of moving such a large group on and off exhibit would prove difficult. Eventually, we would like to have Izu, the sire of all the cubs, integrated with both females and litters separately, and share his time between them. Izu has been able to see and smell his offspring inside the house, but has not been in direct contact with them as yet.
Marcia Redding is a senior mammal keeper at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park.
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September 5th, 2006 at 11:37 am
Thanks again, Marcia, for another great update.
September 5th, 2006 at 12:35 pm
Which one of the cubs is pictured in this blog? It's a cute little one!
Thanks for the new update on the lion cubs!
September 5th, 2006 at 4:54 pm
Thanks for answering all of the questions. It is great to hear all of the updates. Again I can't wait to see Mina and her cubs when they are old enough and to finally see Izu with his cubs.
September 5th, 2006 at 6:47 pm
Grace, the cub in the picture is Abena.
September 5th, 2006 at 7:57 pm
Love these updates! Thanks, Marcia… It's so lovely to see these little ones grow and thrive.
September 6th, 2006 at 9:15 am
Thank you, Marcia !! =)
September 6th, 2006 at 9:20 am
Love the names chosen for Mina's cubs !!
September 6th, 2006 at 10:05 am
Thanks, Marcia, for a great update. It helps to understand the logistics and training that the pride goes through to keep things running smoothly. They certainly are cute " families." I can't wait to see how they react to " Dad" and he to them.
September 8th, 2006 at 7:29 pm
Thanks for the update! Those are great names for them too! And thank you for referring me to the section on the website about zoo careers! They helped me a lot, and now I know what classes I need to take and what other things I should do that will help me. I'm taking biology this year and I'm really looking forward to animal science and animal behavior. Thanks again!
September 9th, 2006 at 11:19 am
What do you feed the lions? Why do you have to feed the lions a specific diet? How does the diet affect the lion if you get it wrong?
September 11th, 2006 at 3:44 pm
Good question, Morgan. Our lions eat a prepared diet that is specially formulated for carnivorous animals. The nutritional needs of lions are well understood. Many studies have been done over the years, and this product reflects this research. Ground beef is the base ingredient, but it has many other additives designed to make it a complete diet. If we fed them only muscle meat, they would develop malnutrition; many forms of illness can be caused by an inadequate diet. In the wild, lions eat all of their prey, not just one part. This gives them a balanced diet. In addition to the carnivore diet, our lions receive large, meaty beef bones to keep their teeth healthy, and each animal gets a whole rabbit once a week. They eat the fur and all. The roughage is healthy for their digestive tract. The rabbits come frozen from a farm that raises them for food, and they are thawed out as needed. To give you an idea of the amounts the animals eat, Izu, our adult male, gets 9 pounds (4 kilograms) of carnivore diet daily. Oshana, an adult female, eats 8 pounds (3.6 kilograms) per day. Her 3-month-old cubs, Bakari and Abena, are up to 2 pounds (0.9 kilograms) per day. Hope this answers all your questions!