In the span of a week, the number of lions in captivity has decreased by around 9 per cent.
Wellington Zoo’s two lionesses – sisters Djane and Zahra – were euthanised at the beginning of the month – one for age-related health issues, and the other on welfare grounds. On Tuesday, Auckland Zoo announced it made the “extremely tough” but “kindest call” to euthanise its elderly male lions Zulu and Malik on welfare grounds.
This leaves only two wildlife parks in the country – Orana Wildlife Park in Christchurch and Kamo Wildlife Sanctuary in Whāngarei – housing lions and lionesses. Between the two of them, there are approximately 40 big cats, the eldest of which is a 20-year-old Barbary lionliving at the Northland park.
Eight of these lions – four males and four females – are housed at Orana Wildlife Park where they live in two prides. The eldest, Karn, turned 18 in December, the other cats are aged between 10 and 17 years.
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Of the males, Mambila is 10, and Kairangi and Tawhiri are both 11. For the lionesses, Tua and Tama, are both aged 11, and Leah and Meeka are both 17.
The park's marketing manager Nathan Hawke confirmed all of their lions are doing well.
“We are pleased to report that all of Orana’s lovely lions, including Leah, Meeka and Karn – our elderly cats, are all in good health.”
Orana Wildlife Park/Supplied
Meeka, 17, is one of Orana Wildlife Park’s elderly lions.
All the lions were bred at the park as part of a zoo-based breeding programme. When the park first opened in the 70s, it had 12 adult lions and six cubs.
Visitors can have encounters with the animals on a guided drive through the park’s African Lion Habitat. The daily encounters see the cats climb on the roof of the vehicle, coming face-to-face with visitors.
“It is our absolute privilege to manage these amazing animals, to connect our visitors with these majestic big cats and raise awareness on their plight,” Hawke said.
Paradise Valley Springs Wildlife Park in Rotorua has seven lions – its eldest is Luca, 17, a dominant female, and the youngest is Xander, 8, who is the youngest in the pride but the largest, weighing in at around 200kg. The other lions in the pride are Aleekah and Ayla both 9 years old, Bella and Benji both 10 years old, and Hana, 14.
The park’s eldest male, Max, died in 2019 at the age of 19.
Pouakai Zoo on the West Coast has one male lion called Aslan and two lionesses named Asha and Leah. A spokesperson for the zoo said the animals are “doing well” in respect to their health, and there are no plans to introduce new lions due to their social dynamics and established pride behaviour.
According to National Geographic lions in captivity have an average life span of 25 years. Life expectancy in the wild is 12 to 16 years.
Maddisyn Jeffares/Stuff
Orana Wildlife Park marketing manager Nathan Hawke said all of the lions at the park are in “good health”.
Wellington’s Djane and Zahra were 19 when they died, Auckland Zoo’s cats were both 17. Auckland Zoo euthanised its eldest female lion Sheeka, 19 – Djane and Zahra’s mum – in 2017 for age-related health issues.
Auckland Zoo’s Carnivore team leader Lauren Booth said in a statement the animals at both zoos had “long enriching lives” thanks to the care they received from the zookeepers.
“We're giving them lives as good, if not better than they’d experience in the wild.”
African lions are listed as vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. The population in the wild has decreased by 43 per cent over the last 21 years, leaving approximately 25,000 of the big cats.
Barbary lions are extinct in the wild, the only remaining animals are in captivity. This cat originally lived in the Barbary Coast regions of the Maghreb, from Morocco to Egypt, and is shorter, heavier and longer than the African lion.
Orana Wildlife Park/Supplied
Orana Wildlife Park introduced its unique lion encounter in 1999.
Kamo Wildlife Sanctuary has a number of Barbary and Barbary cross lions, however, the park is temporarily closed.
The privately-owned park claims to have 23 adults – eight lions and seven lionesses – however, recent reports from Stuff refer to 22 big cats. Based on information on its website, the oldest cat at the park is a female Barbary lion named Savannah who was born on January 27, 2001.
There are six Barbary lions, seven African lions and two Barbary crossed African lions. All were born in the early 2000s. The eldest African lions are Laduma and Amafu, both aged 17, while the eldest male Barbary lion is Zamba, 20, who is just a few months younger than Savannah.
Most of the lions were born at Kamo Wildlife Sanctuary, however, four were born at the Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve in Krugersdorp, South Africa, in 2004.
No updates have been issued regarding any of the animals’ welfare and health.
Kamo Wildlife Sanctuary was contacted for an update on the status of the lions in captivity but had not responded at the time of publication.
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