It's All About Animal Magnetism at the Virginia Zoo

Our pride is growing with a new male meerkat and a very special lion announcement

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It’s official! Zola is pregnant!

Ultrasounds have confirmed that the Virginia Zoo’s lioness, Zola, is expecting cubs this spring. “It’s difficult to predict an exact date,” notes Greg Bockheim, executive director, “but we anticipate the cubs will be born very soon.”

Zoo staff has been eagerly waiting for confirmation of the pregnancy, ever since the Committee of species survival plan (SSP) experts, part of the national Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), gave the Virginia Zoo the go-ahead to again breed this very genetically valuable pair of lions. “We’re hoping to again experience the highest level of survivability and parent rearing success with this impending birth of cubs,” notes Bockheim. “The genetic pedigrees of our lions make them an ideal breeding match, and their cubs will be valuable additions to the long-range survivability of the species.”

SSP animals are considered to be some of the most critically endangered species on the planet. Their wild and captive genetic populations are monitored and closely managed in captivity.  In most cases the loss of one or the other population would clearly lead to extinction of the species. The AZA manages the animal collections of its member zoos and recommends placements to ensure the best care for the animals and the opportunities for managed breeding.

On August 19, 2007, Zola gave birth to the pair’s first litter of cubs – a male and a female. This birth was the first large carnivore birth at the Zoo in 35 years. Those cubs, Granby and Neka, have been popular with Zoo visitors who have enjoyed the rare opportunity to watch young lions grow up. Each older cub has been assigned to a Zoo on the West Coast and will be relocated in the near future.

The gestation period for a lion is 110 days. Zoo staff isn’t certain how many cubs will be born this spring. Similarly to their cousin the domestic cat, not every fetus results in a live birth.

This is just a natural part of the animal world to ensure the survival of the strongest animals and the continuation of the species. As with Granby and Neka, when the cubs are born, Zola and the new cubs will be taken off exhibit to give them time to bond and grow. “Zola was a very young, first time mother in 2007,” says Greg, “and we were all pleased and surprised to watch how well she bonded with the cubs and cared for them like a protective lioness should. We will give her any support she needs, but we expect she will prove to be a great mother once again.”

New Meerkat Mob at the Zoo

In the meantime, a new, fertile male meerkat is joining the mob (the name for a group of meerkats) at the Virginia Zoo.  In February 2009, the Zoos older, nonreproductive male, Barky, was sent to the Los Angeles Zoo to be a companion for LA’s older meerkat, Chico. The pair’s age and dispositions made them an ideal match, and the social animals have been thriving in their new exhibit and delighting visitors to the LA Zoo. This collaborative effort between AZA zoos not only helped out Chico and the LA Zoo, but it created an opportunity for the Virginia Zoo to acquire a young, virile, breeding male.

Slate came to the Virginia Zoo from the North Carolina Zoo. After a routine quarantine period, Slate has been introduced in a controlled environment to the Zoo’s female meerkats, Rosie and Pat, before being released together on exhibit.

“The introductions have gone very smoothly,” reports Bockheim. “Meerkats are very social animals, but they also can be very territorial and have individual personalities that just do to get along. However, these three seem to accept each other, and we have high hopes that they will breed, too. To encourage their bonding, we have excavated the old burrows and tunnels and replaced them with new soil. Slate now will work with Pat and Rosie to create a new habitat that they build together.”

Meerkats are small African animals that weigh about 2 pounds. Their home range is in the deserts of South Africa, and they live in grass-lined burrows that are often shared with ground squirrels and yellow mongooses. Their small size makes them attractive to predators, so one group member always stands guard as a sentry while the others forage or nap.  And meerkats do like their naps – lounging in the sun is a favorite activity. They also like to dig and eat bugs. Despite their aversion to strangers, meerkats are social animals and in the wild live in extended family structures.