A Strange New World for Kamau the Lion
Posted at 1:26 pm October 24, 2008 by Kym NelsonKamau has set off to start a new life, and hopefully a new family, at the Sacramento Zoo! He was born at the Wild Animal Park on July 19, 2006 to Mina and Izu. He has a brother, Zenda, who is now at the Brookfield Zoo in Illinois and two half sisters, Abena and Bakari, who are at the John Ball Zoo in Michigan. Being the final lion from the 2006 litters to leave the Park, he has had the time to develop into quite an impressive boy right before our eyes; at 2 years old he already weighed in at 386 pounds (175 kilograms)!
Kamau left the Wild Animal Park early on October 13 to make the journey up to Sacramento. He traveled in style, his crate being transported in the back of an air- conditioned rental van! Kamau was quite calm in the crate, and when the doors to the van were opened he seemed very interested in his surroundings. Despite the fires burning along the I-5 corridor, the trip was completed in about 11 hours with only one detour needed. Once adjusted to life in Sacramento, he will be introduced to a two-year-old female, Cleo, and hopefully be given the opportunity to start a family of his own.
Kamau’s genes are highly desirable, as his parents were brought to the Wild Animal Park from Africa when they were only six months old. A fundamental conservation issue is the preservation of genetic diversity in the captive population, and new bloodlines brought into the breeding arena are the cornerstone to maintaining this. As with the lion breeding done here at the Wild Animal Park, Sacramento Zoo follows the Species Survival Plan (SSP) guidelines. (The SSP maintains a genetic database of the managed care population in the U.S. and makes breeding recommendations based on genetic compatibility.)
We miss Kamau here at the Wild Animal Park but feel privileged to have had the opportunity to watch him grow and mature. We know that someday he will make an excellent father, and we will keep you posted on any future developments!
Kym Nelson is a senior keeper at the Wild Animal Park.
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October 24th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
i cant wait to see him as i live in sacramento
Moderator’s note: Please let us know how he’s doing when you get a chance for a visit, Paula.
October 25th, 2008 at 5:43 am
I recently went to the John Ball website to see how Bakari and Abena were doing. I saw the following words all in CAPS
THREE TREE CLIMBING LIONS
Makes me wonder what the girls have been up to!
October 25th, 2008 at 10:27 am
Thank you for the news on Kamau! I am so glad to see that in a few years, he will have opportunities to start a pride of his own. I really enjoy reading the blogs on SDZ, and I have learned so much about the importance of the diversity of the gene pool of these animals on the verge of extinction or are already listed as endangered. My hats off to all the staff and care teams at the SDZ!
October 25th, 2008 at 11:03 am
thanks Kym for the Kamau lion up-date. I think it is soooo interesting the way all the zoos keep track of the bloodlines and gene pool so they can continue to breed correctly. I live in Michigan, and we have two of the cubs at John Ball Park zoo as you have stated. I wish we had a panda, but, our zoo is a far cry from being famous or that great! maybe someday! anyway, thanks for letting us know what the zoo is doing for breeding purposes!!! the big guy at least had an air-conditioned ride………….!
October 27th, 2008 at 8:46 am
I too live in Sacramento and I can’t wait to go visit Kamau. I’m so excited!
October 28th, 2008 at 7:03 am
I am a volunteer at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago. I have followed Zenda’s litter since birth on your blog and am delighted to be able to check on Zenda everytime I am at the zoo. He is a handsome adolescent and very calm and laid back according to his keepers. On Sundays, which is bone day for carnivores, he bounds outside and rips open the box holding his bones in a matter of secoonds. The cutest thing about him is that his mane is starting to grow in, but for now he has a mohawk! Very fitting for a young lion. His “playmate” 3yo Isis from Fort Worth is a bit more high strung, so they are only at the mesh introduction stage, but things are going well and hopefully they will share the yard soon.
Moderator’s note: Thanks for the update on Zenda. Glad to hear he’s doing well!
November 1st, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Hey guys!
I am a keeper from the Sacramento Zoo and just happened to run into this blog. I am privileged to work in our carnivore section and just wanted to give you a short update on Kamau. As previously stated he has been very calm since the morning he arrived. Everyone at the zoo has just fallin’ in love with the big guy. He is currently enjoying all the enrichment and training sessions we can squeeze in and will start the introduction fazes with our female in about two weeks (which means for those of you that live in Sacramento, he will be on exhibit for our visitors to see about the same time.) Hope you all can come visit and see this amazing lion in person! (And hopefully someday his family as well!) Take care!
Moderator’s note: Thank you for the update, Amanda!
March 16th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
Any updates on Zenda and Kamau’s introductions with their mates? I want to look up the tree climbing lions because I remember reading about the girls moving to John Ball in advance of their exhibit being completed. I have been hoping for an update on that for a while. I will check the John Ball website for more news.