IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Scaglione, F.E.; Schr”der, C.; Degiorgi, G.; Zeira, O.; Bollo, E. | |
| Congenital malformations associated with inbreeding in white lions | |
| 2009 Proceedings of the International Conference on Diseases of Zoo and Wild Animals: 322-324 | |
White lions (Panthera leo krugeri) have never been common in the wild, and at present the greatest population is kept in zoos where they are bred for biological and biodiversity conservation. During the years 2003 to 2008 in a zoological garden in northern Italy 19 white lions were born from the same parents. Parents were blood-related by father. Out of the 19 subjects, 4 were stillborn, 13 died within 1 month and 1 animals was euthanatized after 6 months because of difficulty with prehension of food. Six lions showed malformations involving the head (jaw, tongue, throat, teeth and cranial bones). One lion, still alive and aged 30 months, submitted to neuro-logical evaluation because o posture and gait abnormalities, revealed an Anrold-Chiari type I-like syndrome. The high incidence of malformations detected in white lions derived from parent's blood related by father, further accounts for excessive inbreeding into the population of white lions. |
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