Dutch Lion Sedated And Transported To Poland In Order To Establish New Dutch Dynasty
This is the moment a young lion has been sedated and prepared for transport to a zoo in Poland.
The veterinarians prepared the lion for transport from the Royal Burgers’ Zoo in the Dutch city of Arnheim for the Polish zoo of Plock on 3rd March.
The footage shared by the Royal Burgers’ Zoo shows the zoo veterinarian sedating the lion, after which zookeepers carry the lion to its transport box.
Royal Burgers’ Zoo said in a press statement: “Two juvenile lionesses from Wildlands Zoo in Emmen joined the Arnhem male in order to establish a new Dutch dynasty in the Polish zoo.
“Nowadays, breeding lions in zoos is very successful. In many zoos, lions are even provided with contraceptives: temporarily as well as permanently. In order to prevent inbreeding, zoos often exchange lions among each other. This way, genetic diversity is maintained in the lion population as well.
“The larger zoos united in the European Assocation of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) do not sell lions, but donate them for free to each other, in order to sideline illegal trade.
“Once common in Africa and Asia, wild lion populations decline rapidly nowadays. Lion territory becomes more and more scattered and human-animal conflicts pose serious threats to long-term lion survival in large parts of Africa.
“Habitat loss, trophy hunting and preventive shooting to protect livestock are severe problems lions have to deal with. “