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Devon lion leaves for new lover

Yali's a stud (image courtesy: Paignton Zoo)

A short paws before three others arrive

A lovelorn lion is leaving Devon to join his lover - although he hasn't met her yet.

Yali, who currently lives at Paignton Zoo, is migrating to Ireland, where his feline dreams will come true. He's part of an international breeding programme designed to protect and preserve Asiatic lions. They've endangered in the wild.

Now six years old, Yali is officially a stud. That's enough to make any lion proud.

No one has told him he's been shipped out so his enclosure can be spruced up before three new lions - a boy and two girls - move in from Newquay Zoo.

To ensure genetic variation of captive lions, each species is in a ‘studbook’ which lists all animals that are part of the breeding programmes and details such as their age, sex, and health conditions. The co-ordinator of the species’ studbook then makes recommendations for the pairings of animals.

Steve Nash, head of campaigns and programmes at Wild Planet Trust (the charitable Trust that runs both Paignton and Newquay Zoos) said: “Yali will be missed by staff and visitors alike, however he plays a very important role in the breeding programme, and at six years old he is in his prime to produce offspring.”

It means there may be a short paws (ha!) during which you can't see a lion at Paignton Zoo. 

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