Our Lion Girls' New Home!
Posted at 10:52 am October 19, 2007 by Marcia ReddingLast week, Abena and Bakari, the young females from Lion Camp at the Wild Animal Park, made the trip to their new home at the John Ball Zoo in Michigan (see Marcia's previous blog, Bon Voyage, Lion Girls). They loaded beautifully and calmly into their crates; all our patient training really paid off. In fact, after being moved by truck to the trailer that would transport them all the way to Michigan, they were calm enough to have some lunch. Forty pounds (18 kilograms) of their carnivore diet accompanied them, some frozen - plenty to give them time to transition onto a new diet if necessary. The journey, which took several days, was uneventful and the girls arrived safely and in good spirits.
Now, for some welcome news. I contacted officials at John Ball Zoo, and got some details about our girls' future there. There is a very handsome young male lion named Docha waiting to meet them: he cleared his quarantine shortly before Abena and Bakari's arrival. Once the girls are out of quarantine, the introductions will begin. All three lions will live in the present lion exhibit there; but the best news ever is that their new exhibit, " Lions of Lake Manyatta," is presently under construction and will be complete in the spring of 2008. The exhibit is modeled after an area in Tanzania where lions have been observed climbing trees. There will be a large tree structure that will be heated in the winter and cooled in the summer, rolling hills, heated rocks, indoor dens with skylights and cubbing areas complete with heated floors, and neighbors in the form of chimps, African hoofed animals, and various birds. In short, our girls will be living in the lap of luxury!
It's very gratifying to hear about the excitement caused by our beautiful girls in far away Michigan. I'm sure that they will be as cherished in their new home as they were here in San Diego. We wish them a long and happy life - and when the time comes, the patter of little lion cub paws!
Marcia Redding is a senior keeper at the Wild Animal Park.
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October 19th, 2007 at 11:40 am
Wow, Marcia, sounds like the best outcome anyone could have hoped for, and is Lion " heaven." The girls will be well cared for, have a handsome suitor waiting for them, and have each other's companionship in a brand new state of the art exhibit. What more could a young lioness hope for???
" Maureen in Michigan" said she would check on the girls when they get out of quarantine and keep us posted on their antics. I imagine she is as excited as you were about their future in their new home.
Great job for your patient training and preparing the girls for their pampered lifestyle in their new home. Sounds like everything is being done for them in preparation for the " patter of little lion cub paws in a couple of years." So exciting!
October 19th, 2007 at 12:45 pm
Marcia, what great news that the girls arrived and have a handsome young man waiting to meet them. The new lion exhibit sounds like a luxury hotel and i'm sure it will encourage some special moments. I also am glad that Maureen will get to check on them.
October 19th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
There is a picture of the male lion on the John Ball Zoo's web site. He's very handsome. Lucky girls!
October 19th, 2007 at 3:21 pm
Your blog made my day! Their future exhibit sounds like Lion Heaven - I just couldn't be happier about their new home and new " beau" . Seems like a dream come true for everyone involved. Congratulations to you and everyone at the WAP for making this happen for our beautiful girls. If possible - please keep us posted - and photos would be awesome!
October 19th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
I'm soooooooooooo happy for them!!!!!!!!!!!!! Fantastic Exhibit/Male Lion/Friendly Keepers- a happy tale for the SZ Wildlife Park keepers!!!!!!! So how old is DOCHA?????? Thanx Marcia for this happy blog………..
Do you know what zoo our 2 male lions are going to and when?????????????????
October 19th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
Hate to say it but there was no mention in the GR paper about the arrival of the lions - did they have as much security about their departure as Mei Sheng?? But, yes, I will be there to check on them & keep you all posted.
October 20th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
Thank you Marcia for updating us on the girls arrival to Michigan. =) I'm happy to hear that it all went well, and smoothly. I've a questions, do they have a web cab there at the Michigan Zoo so we would be able to see the girls at their new home ? Thank You !!
October 20th, 2007 at 7:23 pm
There was an article from the Grand Rapids Press on the internet a few days ago with a nice picture of the girls. It's still there under the Muskegan Chronicle. If you do a Yahoo search for " John Ball Zoo Adds Two Lion Sisters" the article should come up. The girls look so sweet!
October 20th, 2007 at 7:27 pm
Forgot to mention, the article says Docha is 2 years old. There is more information in the article about the new exhibit.
October 21st, 2007 at 3:03 pm
Barbara- thanx for the info!!! I just read the article, the picture looks adorable. Sounds like the girls are under good care…….. I didn't realize they wouldn't be introduced to Docha for a whole year!!!… but I guess they are to young.
Marcia…. I am dieing to know: HAVE THE CUBS BEEN BORN YET!!!!!!!! please pretty pleasepleaseplease give me an answer, it would be much appreaciated!!!!
October 21st, 2007 at 8:33 pm
Jack, the cubs are not due until the second week in November…….I promise I will post a blog as soon as there is some news!
October 22nd, 2007 at 2:50 pm
According to the article about the girls new home reference above, " The sisters and Docha won't be introduced until after the first of the year. First, the lion sisters will have to be quarantined. Then, once they get used to their surroundings — and Docha — the public likely will be able to get their first view of the lionesses when the new exhibit opens next summer." So, it seems that Maureen may have to wait until next Summer when the new exhibit opens to see the girls. It sounds like Docha is going to be on exhibit in the old Lion enclosure, but it doesn't mention the girls being on exhibit there. Presumably they will be introduced to Docha in a similar manner to the two lion sisters and the male lion at NZP. In that case the girls are two and three years old, and the male is one (when he arrived last year). It is great to see sisters going together to start their own pride with such a majestic young male lion. Izu won't even get to chaperone (just kidding) and supervise and give advice on being such a wonderful lion sire.
October 23rd, 2007 at 9:58 am
Oh my gosh - SDZ Lion cubs in my very back yard!!! Yahoo!!! I willhave to make a trip to this zoo to see the girls and their new " companion" !!
I am so glad I looked at this posting to see that the girls have been sent to Michigan. I hope they will like playing in the snow!! It should be a fun new experience for them!!
Thank you again!! Oh, and god bless all of you @ SDZ in this very trying time with the fires!! We know you will take very good care of ALL of your special charges!!
October 30th, 2007 at 11:40 am
I got an email from Krys Bylund at John Ball Zoo yesterday and she said the girls are doing great. She said as soon as they are out of quarantine she will be posting a ton of info on them in her e-newsletter, so everybody sign up!!
Moderator's note: Thanks for the good news, Deb!
November 5th, 2007 at 5:56 pm
Glad to hear our lion girls are doing great. I miss seeing them and watching running around, but I know they are in a great place and hopefully soon we will get some pictures of them and hear of them having babies. Thanks for the update, also what e-newsletter to we sign up for to get postings on the lions cubs.
Moderator's note: Our weekly e-newsletter features news of notable animal births. For more information, visit http://www.sandiegozoo.org/newsletter/index.html
November 9th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
I am so happy for Bakari and Abena and their new home. The new exhibit sounds fantastic and seeing the two girls stay together like Oshana and Mina at the WAP is really great! Looking forward to any updates on the new lion cubs.
November 15th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
As a member of the John Ball Zoo society, and only living a few miles from Bakari and Abena's new home, we couldn't be more excited. My familiy was especially excited to hear about the lions' arrival because we were at the San Diego Wild Life Park last spring and remember seeing the lion cubs! We were all very sad when we lost our lions at the zoo. It just didn't seem the same anymore. It is thrilling to think that we now have three lions with the hopes of little lion cubs in the future! The last time my family was at the zoo in August, the new exhibit was well underway. I received a newsletter in the mail just this week with new pictures of the exhibit in progress…it looks amazing!
In answer to Iainie's question, as of now there is no web cam at John Ball Zoo.
Thank you for all the wonderful work you do at the Wild Life Park! Thanks to you, our local zoo will be blessed with once again having lions! I'll pass on any news when it becomes available.
Moderator's note: Joan, we look forward to updates on the girls from friends like you!
March 25th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
I played with Docha when he was 2 months old. He is definitely missed in Santa Barbara, but definitely has a good home again.
June 27th, 2008 at 7:06 am
I took my daughter to the John Ball Zoo this week to see the new Lion exhibit that opened this month. Bakari and Abena's new home looks wonderful. When we saw them, they were both enjoyin laying in the sun on a beautiful Monday morning. The girls seem to be happy napping side by side while Docha slept about 10 feet away. I got some great photos of the girls. They have been quite the talk of the town this month. Grand Rapids is happy to have our new lion friends and their great new exhibit at the zoo.
Thanks again!
Moderator's note: Thank you for the update on the girls, Joan! We'll pass along the info to our Wild Animal Park staff.