Conservation

Paradise Wildlife Park is proud to be involved in animal conservation projects both in the UK and throughout the world.

• Project Life Lion - A Synopsis By Dr. Sarah Cleaveland
• Owsten Civits
• Wildlife Heritage Foundation
• Global White Lion Trust
• Ugandan Wildlife Education Centre
• EAZA Campaigns
• Snow Leopard Trust
• World Land Trust
• Cheetah Conservation Fund

 

Project Life Lion - A Synopsis By Dr. Sarah Cleaveland

Project Life Lion was initiated in 1996 with the aim of implementing a mass vaccination campaign of domestic dogs against canine distemper and rabies in areas bordering the Serengeti National Park. Canine distemper and rabies are both diseases caused by viruses that infect a wide range of mammal species. Concerns about these disease arise both because of recent disease epidemics in wild carnivores within the park (rabies and distemper) and because of public health risks for local communities around the park (rabies).

Mass vaccination of dogs has focused on the communities of Serengeti District, which border the northwest of the park and live in close contact with wildlife. This high-density dog population was the source of the canine distemper in the devastating epidemic of 1994 and also acts as a reservoir of rabies for both wildlife and people.

13 years after Project Life Lion was initiated, the programme continues to vaccinate domestic dogs with tangible benefits for both wildlife conservation and the health and welfare of local communities. More than 100,000 dogs have now been vaccinated, and following a substantial decline in dog rabies, no wildlife rabies cases have been reported in the park since 2002. At the same time, African wild dogs have re-appeared for the first time in 10 years and two packs are currently established on the Serengeti plains. Since Project Life Lion was initiated, no further cases of canine distemper have been documented in wildlife and the lion population has now reached an all-time high. However, a small CDV outbreak was recorded in unvaccinated dogs in 2000, emphasizing the continuing need to maintain vaccination coverage and extend the programme to all dog populations adjacent to the park.

Paradise Wildlife Park has played a crucial role in all phases of project development. Steve Sampson, a Director at Paradise was the visionary behind Project Life Lion and brought together the key players. The consistency of support provided by Paradise Wildlife Park has been crucial for maintaining field activities and vaccination coverage. In addition to providing direct funds, Paradise Wildlife Park has also catalysed other funding initiatives.

Infectious diseases are a growing concern for wildlife conservation. Project Life Lion provides an important example of a programme that has successfully reduced disease risks for wildlife populations while delivering genuine benefits for local communities.

Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, USA, Paradise Wildlife Park in Broxbourne, UK and Frankfurt Zoological Society, Germany are now spearheading the fundraising and awareness campaign.

Owsten Civits

The first Owston's Civet (Chrotogale owstoni) to be bred outside of Vietnam was born at Paradise Wildlife Park on 13th April 2005. The female kit was born to a breeding pair on loan from Cuc Phuong National Park in Vietnam, as part of the Small Carnivore Conservation Centre Scheme. This project has been branded by the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).

Gary Watts from Paradise Wildlife Park and Stewart Muir from Newquay Zoo are currently involved in discussions to begin European and International Breeding Programmes for the Civets, meaning a wider distribution of the captive population. Paradise Wildlife Park housed 6 Civets from Vietnam in quarantine for six months, allowing two pairs to be passed on to Newquay Zoo and Thrigby Wildlife Park in order for them to breed. These three ex-situ conservation sites are the only ones to house Owston's Civets outside Vietnam, although other zoos and conservation sites are in talks with Cuc Phuong regarding further transfers. Newquay Zoo succeeded in breeding twin males in June 2006.

Our future plans are to loan our young female along with one of the young males from Newquay to Parc Zoologique de Pont-Scorff in France, while still breeding our original pair to increase the ex situ population. The Civets were moved to a purpose built enclosure in February 2006 and are now successfully on display at Paradise Wildlife Park.

Wildlife Heritage Foundation

The Wildlife Heritage Foundation (WHF) is an internationally recognised Big Cat Breeding Sanctuary and conservation organisation. The aim of Wildlife Heritage Foundation (WHF) is to create a world-class facility for the breeding and conservation of cat species and to support conservation projects. The Big Cat Sanctuary is not open to the general public. It is a registered charity and may be visited by members of the Wildlife Heritage Foundation or the public only as part of a pre-arranged exotic animal experience or photographic workshop.

Recent breeding successes include Amur leopards and Sumatran tigers. WHF has recently been accepted into the international breeding programme for North Chinese leopards and are very proud to have the first pair in the UK. Paradise Wildlife Park (PWP) and WHF have been recognised by the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums for the ‘Branding' and promotion of the ‘Amur Leopard Conservation Programme'.

PWP has assisted WHF in bringing together a number of high-genetic ranking, large and small cats from the European Endangered Species Breeding Programme (EEPs). New enclosures have been built to accommodate breeding pairs of leopard and tigers. There have also been extensions built on to existing big cat enclosures. Work has commenced to build a new entrance, driveway, small screened car park and members centre.

WHF is working in conjunction with the Amur leopard conservation and breeding programme, and proposed reintroduction in the Russian Far-East, in conjunction with Dr. John Lewis of Wildlife Vets International. Amur leopards are one of the most critically endangered big cats in the wild, with around only 30 remaining. WHF is very proud to have bred Amur leopards at the Big Cat.Sanctuary. WHF is working with and developing relationships with partners such as the Snow Leopard Trust and Cheetah Conservation Fund supporting the work of Dr. Laurie Marker with cheetah in Namibia. WHF and PWP are pioneering a new conservation initiative with the Ugandan Government moving lions back to Uganda. Lions will be transported from PWP to the Ugandan Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC) in Entebbe, Uganda, Africa in 2009. It is anticipated this will form the foundation for a number of projects between WHF, PWP and Ugandan Wildlife Services.

WHF and PWP are working with the Global White Lion Trust to create baseline data for DNA testing in white lions. This is achieved by hair sampling. WHF and PWP are also helping to support the Global White Lion Trust in South Africa with fundraising initiatives. WHF is working with a PHD student from Imperial College, London, who is comparing samples from wild and captive Sumatran tigers to help our understanding of the population size and structure of the remaining c250 wild tigers in Sumatra.

The priorities for the next 12 months include building an enclosure for Clouded Leopards. This enclosure will be a tribute to our good friend, colleague and trustee Peter James, who passed away at the beginning of 2008.

WHF has only a small team of paid staff and a devoted team of volunteers, led by WHF Chief Executive Officer - Mark Edgerley.

Visit whf.org.uk for more information.

Global White Lion Trust

To the African elders, used to looking for spiritual signs in nature, the White Lions' arrival was the fulfilment of ancient prophecy that identified these majestic creatures as angelic messengers from God. Identified as a sacred site by Africa Kings for many hundreds of years, the name "Tsimba-vaati" in the ancient Shangaan language means "the place where stallions came down from the heavens". White lions are not albino as they have pigmentation, which shows particularly in eye, paw pad and lip colour. The correct term for their condition is leucism, a state where there is near-normal eye colour, but loss of pigment in the skin and fur. The cause of the unusual colouration is due to a recessive gene, which results in the white appearance and is found in a very small number of captive lions. Since the genetic marker has not yet been discovered by geneticists, there is no way of knowing which tawny lions carry the secrete code. Every lion that is hunted in the Timbavati region is, therefore, potentially a gene bearer. Unlike tawny lion cubs, which are spotted at birth, the coat of white cubs at birth is almost pure white. Over the months, the coat gradually darkens to become a cream or ivory colour.

Who discovered White Lions?

For centuries rumours of mysterious white lions (Panthera leo grugeri) had been circulating in South Africa. Strong claims of sightings started to surface in 1928. Scattered reports continued over the next 47 years, until confirmation of the colouration came in 1975 when a litter containing two white cubs was seen at Timbavati Game Reserve, adjacent to Kruger National Park. The discovery came as researcher and conservationist Chris McBride was studying lions at Timbavati. Chris's elder sister and her son were visiting Chris McBride when he fell ill. While he lay sick in bed, they went out alone with a tracker for the day and spotted a lioness at a kill. With her were three two-week-old cubs, one tawny and two that were as white as polar bears. The white cubs proved to be male and female, and were named Temba (Zulu for "hope") and Tombi (Zulu for "girl"). The tawny cub was called Vela (Zulu for "surprise").

Fearing for the safety of this unique species, Chris McBride organised to have the three lion cubs capture in "Operation White Lion" and they were sent to the Pretoria Zoo.

Should the cubs be removed from the wild?
Over the years, this has been the source of endless debate. The genetic combination required to breed White Lions were never seen anywhere other than Timbavati Game Reserve and the white gene pool was almost definitely limited to this area. If the cubs had not been removed they would most certainly have died; for some people that provides the necessary justification for taking the action. Other people see it as human interference in an area that should have been left to natural selection.

Global White Lion Protection Trust

The Global White Lion Protection Trust was established in 2002 with the dual purpose of protecting the White Lions as well as indigenous African culture that regards these animals as sacred. The Global White Lion Protection Trust's carefully monitored reintroduction of the White Lions back to their original endemic homeland of Timbavati is proving successful.

It is the opinion of the Global White Lion Protection Trust that reputable zoological institutions can play an important role in education and preservation of the White Lion genetics, and for this reason the Trust is establishing good working relationships with a number of leading zoological institutions around the globe. The Trust has secured a protected area in the epicentre of the White Lions' endemic habitat, a sub-habitat of 300 hectares, where the White Lions are adapting to wild conditions and are protected from trophy hunters. A prime and very urgent objective of the Global White Lion Protection Trust is to expand this protected area, and thus reclaim more land where the White Lions can be protected as a living treasure of great consequence to conservation and culture. Paradise Wildlife Park is happy to support the ethos of The Global White Lion Trust

Ugandan Wildlife Education Centre

Zara's Quest

Zara is an African lion cub who was hand reared at Paradise Wildlife Park. She was born at Linton Zoological Gardens in May 2008 but had to removed after her mother stopped feeding her within 24 hours of being born.

Zara is the figurehead and catalyst to help raise money to fund a conservation initiative between Paradise Wildlife Park (PWP), Wildlife Heritage Foundation (WHF) and the Ugandan Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC) in Entebbe, Uganda in East Africa.

Paradise Wildlife Park has initiated a number of fundraising activities and events to help raise the money to help fund the work between PWP and UWEC.

Lions to Africa

The story of Zara & Bisa

Since the decimation of the lion population during the reign of Idi Amin in the 1970s it has been a concern of conservationists as to how to re-populate the lion prides without massive inter-breeding problems.

 

Paradise Wildlife Park is spearheading a re-introduction campaign with The Wildlife Heritage Foundation and Linton Zoo with the aim to bring new bloodlines to the country.  Zara is an African lion cub born at Linton Zoo that unfortunately was rejected by her young mother.  She is now an integral part of a project to send African Lions to Uganda.  She arrived at Paradise Wildlife Park on Thursday 26th June from Linton Zoological Gardens, Cambridgeshire where she was born on 13th May 2008.  Just like a child, Zara was fed hourly through the night and cared for 24/7 by the team at Paradise; Brian, Jenny & Steve, lead by Lynn Whitnall,

Along with another lioness, Bisa, she was shipped out to Uganda during 2009 after extensive paperwork.  Senior keeper, Brian Badger,  travelled out with them to UWEC (Ugandan Wildlife Education Centre), their new home, and spent the first few days with them.  Animal Park Director, Lynn Whitnall, who was hands on in raising Zara went to visit both lionesses while attending the PAAZAB conference in May 2009; it was a very emotional reunion but Lynn was delighted to see that both lionesses had settled in well to their new environment.  

There is a continuing programme of fundraising activities to assist UWEC with their upkeep; please contact Katy on 01992 470490 for details

 

The lions will be in the care of the Ugandan Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC) based in Entebbe. Lions cannot be returned to the wild, so this is a favourable option where the lions from the UK will act as ambassadors for their wild relatives and provide an invaluable education resource for the residents of Entebbe and people of Uganda.

The Ugandan Wildlife Education Centre is located in Entebbe and is in a fantastic location on the shores on Lake Victoria. The project is being coordinated at UWEC its Director by Dr. Andrew Seguya and James Musinguzi - the Education and Information Manager.

UWEC have a 10 year old male lion but sadly its partner died. Peter Sampson who owns Paradise Wildlife Park met Dr. Andrew Seguya, the Director or of UWEC at a WAZA (World Association of Zoos and Aquariums) Conference in South Africa. Andrew and Peter discussed whether it would be possible to send lionesses from the UK.

Peter and Steve Sampson visited Uganda to meet various Government officials including the Honourable Serapio Rukundo - The Minister of State for Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities; Mr. Moses Mapesa Wafulu - the Executive Director of the Uganda Wildlife Authority; Mr. James Lutalo - the Assistant Commissioner for Wildlife and Mrs. Rose Mwanja - the Assistant Commissioner for Museums and Antiquities. They discussed the proposed movement of lionesses from the UK.

Lynn Whitnall attended the pan-African Zoo Conference in May 2009 hosted by UWEC and also met with Government officials and travelled to some of the National Parks in Uganda as a test run for future trips. We hope to arrange for people to travel to Uganda to visit Zara and experience some of the other amazing wildlife and sites.

Paradise Wildlife Park has now sent Zara and two year old Bisa to UWEC. Plans to fly the lions were initialy delayed because DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) needed to create special protocols as lions have never been returned Uganda.  We anticipate this first movement will form the basis for an ongoing relationship and a number of joint projects between the Uganda Wildlife Authority, the Ugandan Wildlife Education Centre, Paradise Wildlife Park and zoos in the UK.

UWEC History

UWEC was opened in 1952 by the Colonial Government, as an animal Orphanage that offered sanctuary to young animals found abandoned in protected areas due to the death or poaching of parent animals. In the early 1960s, it became a traditional zoo and became commonly known as Entebbe Zoo in which non-indigenous species like bears and tigers were kept as an attraction.

Because of the political turmoil and inadequate government funding, the zoo became continually run down until May 1994 when a proposal was made by the New York Zoological Society now the World Conservation Society, to turn it into a Conservation Education Centre for conservation awareness purposes; hence the name, 'Uganda Wildlife Education Centre Trust'.

Since its inception 90% of the entire centre's operation costs have been donor funded. Currently this is being carried out by the World Bank through the Protected Areas Management and Sustainable Use (PAMSU) project. Paradise Wildlife Park are happy to support the ethos of The Ugandan Wildlife Education Centre.

UWEC Mission

To promote and create an understanding of conserving the biodiversity in Uganda among the public, with specific emphasis on the young generation using the facilities at Entebbe.

UWEC Vision

• A Ugandan Public that is well informed about the Biodiversity in Uganda and hence eager to protect it.
• Our Mandated Roles
• Conservation education of the Uganda public
• Rescue and rehabilitation of animals
• Captive breeding unit for threatened species
• A zoo where people come to see and learn about animals, as well as a Recreation Park for the Ugandan public

EAZA Campaigns

A total of €21,625.07 was donated to the Amphibian Ark Appeal in 2008 making the contribution from Paradise Wildlife Park the second highest contributing member of EAZA in the whole of Europe. Paradise Wildlife Park is proud to support the EAZA campaigns which in the past have benefited the animals and people of Madagascar, Rhinos and animals in the Rainforest. You can find out more by visiting the campaigns section of EAZA.net. The EAZA campaign for 2009 is all about European Carnivores and Paradise will again be hoping to top the charts for their fundraising efforts.

Snow Leopard Trust

On Friday, 28 July 2006 the successful pairing of the Park's Snow Leopards (Uncia uncia) resulted in the birth of one healthy cub; the event witnessed by the Park's Head Keeper as he checked the enclosure late that evening. As with domesticated cats, the cub received its first cat flu vaccinations at 9 weeks, and weighed in at a healthy 3.4kg. The opportunity was also used to give the cub an identification chip; Sue Thornton the Park's International Zoo Vet carried this out. During the second inoculation that took place on 2nd October 2006 the cub was sexed as a male. This was its parents' first offspring with both cats being 3 years of age. The male (originally from Basel Zoo in Switzerland), has been kept separated from the mother (originally from Santiago cat Sanctuary) and their cub, in keeping with normal wild behaviour. It is aimed to re-introduce the group at 15 weeks, when it is hoped they will bond as a family unit once again, up until the cub matures at around 18months. The Snow Leopards at Paradise Wildlife Park, are part of the EEP (European Endangered Species Programme) this breeding programme in conservation terms is vitally important as their wild population size is estimated at below 2'500 mature breeding individuals with a declining trend.Paradise Wildlife Park is happy to support the ethos of The Snow Leopard Trust.

World Land Trust

BIAZA Boom: £50,000 towards land purchase in Brazil from zoos in the UK

BIAZA is the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and a group of its accredited members are raising funds over 3 years for the purchase of the BIAZA Reserve, in the Atlantic rainforest of Brazil, working with REGUA. The land purchase will extend the reach of the reserve towards the Rio de Janeiro Primatology Centre and create a continuous belt of protected Atlantic rainforest. The target figure for the three-year period, which ends in December 2009, is £266,000 and WLT has recently received the amount raised during the first year (2007) of £50,000. So far 22 zoos and private members including Paradise Wildlife Park have pledged support and fundraising has already topped £125,000. Visit WorldLandTrust.org for more information.

Cheetah Conservation Fund

Dr. Laurie Marker is the founder (1990) and Executive Director for the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF. She is recognised around the world as one of the leading experts on cheetahs, both in the wild and in captivity, and began her in-situ research in Namibia, Africa, in 1977, where she conducted ground-breaking research on re-introduction of captive born cheetahs back into the wild. It was at this time that she learned about the conflict between livestock farmers and cheetahs.

Early collaboration in 1982 with Smithsonian Institution researchers resulted in identifying the
limited genetic makeup of the cheetah. In 1990, Laurie founded her international non-profit
organisation, Cheetah Conservation Fund, and set up its headquarters in Namibia in 1991.
Laurie has led her conservation organisation from humble beginnings in a tiny farmhouse in rural Namibia to an unparalleled conservation model for predator conservation. In the early days, with no one to learn from or lean on, Laurie broke new ground with every new program and effort. Dr. Marker has contributed vital information on cheetah health, reproduction, mortality, evolution, and genetics from her biomedical work on every cheetah that passes through CCF's hands (IL