The Hindu : New Delhi News : Captive cross-breeding of lions comes in for criticism

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 02, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Captive cross-breeding of lions comes in for criticism

By Bindu Shajan Perappadan

NEW DELHI, JAN. 1. The same country that gave the world the mantra of "ahimsa'' is now being blacklisted for what is being seen among the international community as cruelty towards its captive lion population.

The "mistake'' Indian conservationists committed over a decade ago has now come back to haunt them in the form of angry letters from various non-government organisations, animal rights activists and even enquires from various High Commissions demanding clarifications on how uncontrolled and unplanned breeding among lions in captivity had lead to a condition where "the main objective of conservation -- to maintain a pure gene pool -- has been lost.''

Red faced, the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) agrees that there has been a "mess up'' and the African-Asian captive lions were allowed to cross breed. "But after 1992 onwards rules are in place to disallow the same and we are certain that no breeding has taken place since 2002,'' said an official.

Now facing the brunt of human error are 300 hybrid captive lions housed in various zoos across the country who have over the past decade been vasectomised to prevent them from breeding. Interestingly of the 431 lions across the country, 300 captive lions are hybrid.

Clarifying its stand, the CAZ has been writing to various agencies telling them that though all is not well at home, work is on to restore the "pure gene pool''. It has also maintained that it is not true that Indian zoos do not have pure Asiatic lions for display.

They have also maintained that prior to the establishment of the CAZ, there were no set standards and guidelines for breeding of animals. "Even record keeping was very poor and as a result incidents like hybridisation of lions did take place in zoos. Even the zookeepers did not have the technical knowledge in distinguishing species and sub-species,'' maintained the CZA member secretary, B. R. Sinha, in his note.

Meanwhile, in response to the brickbats, the CZA has replied: "In Indian zoos we have both the Asiatic lions as well as those which have been proved to be hybrids. The total population of Asiatic lions in captivity is 131 and the hybrid lions are around 300.

The main objective of the zoos as per the National Zoo Policy is supporting the conservation of endangered species by giving animals which have no chance of survival in the wild a last chance of survival through co-ordinated breeding under ex-situ conditions and raise stocks for rehabilitating them in the wild as and when its is appropriate and desirable.''

Speaking about the programme, the CZA scientific officer, Bipul Chakrabarty, explained: "We have already initiated a programme for breeding of the pure Asiatic lions in zoos for future translocation to their natural habitat.

Also, zoos are now well informed and the keepers are trained to avoid incidents of hybridization among the same species.''

"Now keeping in view the objectives laid down by the National Zoo Policy that does not allow inter-breeding, Indian zoos are more focused towards conservation breeding of endangered species of wild animals and as a result the Asiatic lion in Indian zoos has increased from 81 to 131 in the last ten years,'' the CZA official claimed.

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