- Title: ETHIOPIA: DESCENDENT OF HAILE SELASSIE'S PET LION LIVES IN ADDIS ABABA ZOO
- Date: 20th November 2000
- Summary: (REUTERS FILE - POSSIBLY DATED 1971) VARIOUS OF LION BEING CARRIED ON TRUCK IN PROCESSION AS PART OF THE MESKAL FESTIVAL (CELEBRATING THE FINDING OF THE TRUE CROSS) VARIOUS , HAILE SELASSIES PORTRAIT AND PROCESSION GOING PAST RITUAL BONFIRE "DEMERA" VARIOUS, HAILE SELASSIE PERSONAL EMBLEMS OF ST GEORGE
- Embargoed: 5th December 2000 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA
- Country: Ethiopia
- Topics: Environment,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA58FUX4W87VPJFU5MOS5Y2O3UP
- Story Text: In Ethiopia a lion is not just a lion. It is a national symbol, an icon of strength and pride present everywhere. Reuters went to take a look at a very special lion - Challa, direct descendant of the late Emperor Haile Selassie's royal lions.
Meet his imperial majesty, the King of the Jungle.
And if, with his thick, shaggy mane Challa seems to have something of a frisky regal air about him - it's because he knows that he is a genuine blue blood.
Challa is a direct descendant of Mochuria and Mollua - royal lions, which the late Emperor Haile Selassie kept as pets. The Emperor's practice of keeping pet lions is said to date thousands of years back to the Axumite period.
Part of a carefully cultivated mystical image of a family dynasty that came to call themselves the Lions of Judah. The emperor's grandchildren, recently in Addis Ababa for his burial remember the palace pets.
Princess Mariam Senna says "Oh, he was very fond of them and we were too as children. They are very dignified."
Prince Beede Mariam Mekonen says "There were a lot of lions, but there was a couple, especially one that was like a pet. The Ethiopian Airlines picture of that it was called Mochria. It was just like a house pet."
These lions are no longer found in the wild.
Nowadays, a zoo in the capital Addis Ababa is thought to be the only home of 21 such lions, just a fraction of the number that once used to live in the jungle.
Zoo administrator Abede Mulugeta says ""These are rare animals. This species can only be found in Ethiopia and as far as I am concerned I think these particular lions are only found here in the cage. I am not sure that they still exist in the jungle."
A distinctive feature of the males is the huge black mane, which crowns the face, covers the neck and flows down the chest. This feature was also typical of the North African barbary lion and the Cape Lion of Southern Africa.
Both species have been hunted into extinction. In lions, the mane is a sign of social status and reproductive superiority. The darker, thicker and longer the mane is, the better.
In this animal breed, as with peacocks, the males may wear all the jewellery, but it is the female of the species that is really gorgeous. Long, lean and stealthy the lioness has the real power in this relationship.
In the wild, she is responsible for hunting and puts food on the table for her family. That, and the knowledge that she is just plain pretty, explains the air of arrogance lionesses carry themselves with. It is this beauty which visitors to the zoo flock to see. Over the weekend, as many as 800 people a day come here.
In Ethiopia a lion is not just a lion. It is a national symbol, an icon of strength and pride present everywhere and part of the local architecture.
This father says "The lions are the kings of the jungle. They resemble strength and power. That's why in Ethiopia we recognise them as mighty."
3 years ago a lion feeder was attacked and killed in an accident at the zoo. So while he may stroke them, lion feeder, Eyesu Kifle knows that he was promoted a lion feeding job that could have him gobbled up.
He says "I am not afraid of them now because we know each other.
The way I handle them is unique. From when they are cubs to adults. I don't beat them or make them angry. I try to treat them peacefully. When you hit them, they remember that. They never forget and at every opportunity they get, they will try to nab you."
With the males weighing up to 225 kilograms and the females about 150 kilograms, it takes a very big meal to satisfy the lions here.
An ox is slaughtered daily. That's about 16 000 birr or nearly 2000 US dollars worth of meat a month.
Although the zoo has become something of a modern day Noah's Ark - keeping animals in captivity is not without its difficulties. The cages here are rundown and in need of a face-lift.
Eyasu Kifle says "It is not a good life here, they are prisoners, they have been denied their natural freedom to go and relax in the jungle. To climb trees and so on. They don't have any of this. So it is not a good life for the lions. They are prisoners."
In the wild lions live up to 25 or 30 years. While the zoo is doing its best to breed and nurture a precious species of animal - it needs to shape up to restore the pride of one of Africa's most majestic creatures.
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