[FEL-L] Hybrid Lions Article

[Tim Stoffel]

On Tue, 2006-09-19 at 13:30 -0400, Ray wrote:
> This makes it sound like there's some tremendous genetic difference
> between African and Asian lions, possibly more pronounced than between
> lions and tigers, which produce successful (physically at least)
> hybrids.

Ray,
    The difference between the African and Asian lions is relatively
small, and they nearly always produce fertile offspring. Lion/tiger
crosses, OTOH are often not fertile, and they sometimes have major
defects. 

> There should have been some serious genetic research coupled with
> this. Inbreeding of Asian lions may have changed something for the
> worst, making them different than even their own recent ancestors.

    You are correct in that this needs to be studied more. The
inbreeding problems in Asiatic lions are of much more recent origin
though. Still, the Asiatic lion population that is out there appears to
be doing fairly well. Their numbers have been increasing until the last
couple of years, and poaching/accidential deaths are now much more
common than a few years ago.

> OTOH, the symptoms sound more like renal rickets than anything. I
> wonder if their diet is proper, especially as cubs. Many Asian zoos
> know next to nothing about supplements, dietary needs, etc. Some,
> especially in India, will not feed many meats because of reeligious
> feelings.

    It's possible that the diet is sub-par. But a zoo that knows enough
about lion care to do long-term sub-Q fluids (as reported in the
article) should also know about diet issues. We also see genetic
weaknesses in the offspring of our suspected Asiatic/African cross
lioness.

Tim Stoffel

>