Stronger Than Lions - 11. The Cape Town Herald, March 27, 200-

The Cape Town Herald

EVENING EDITION March 27th, 200–

NATIONAL —page 8

White Lion Depressed

CAPE TOWN—Jonathan the white lion, who caused a sensation last year when he escaped from the Peninsula Zoo, appears to be depressed. Staff at the zoo say the young male, one of the zoo’s star attractions, has not been eating for several days and has retreated into the artificial cave in the zoo’s big cat enclosure.

Jonathan is one of three white lion cubs born in captivity three years ago and is descended from the famous white lions of Timbavati. Efforts to make him breed with Sheba the lioness, in an effort to bolster the white lion population, have so far proved futile.

‘He just doesn’t seem interested,’ says Dr Lindiwe Dlamini, chief zoo veterinarian. ‘Depression has been recognized in animals for a while now. He remains in good health, but we may consider transferring him much earlier than expected to our reintroduction programme at a facility near the Kruger National Park.’

Dr Dlamini has campaigned tirelessly for making zoos more animal friendly, and the Peninsula Zoo’s big cat enclosure which she helped design has been recognized as a model of habitat simulation. She is also well known for exposing several illegal canned hunting operations.

— Eusebius Ndlovu, Staff Reporter