Zoo hopes for roar passion (From Surrey Comet)

Zoo hopes for roar passion

11:54am Saturday 6th October 2007 in News

After nearly a year of solitary confinement at Chessington Zoo, Ashok the lion has finally got some female company.

Kalinga the lioness arrived at Chessington on Friday from Terra Natura Zoo and Waterpark in Benidorm, where she was born. Five-year-old Kalinga, an Asiatic lioness, has been brought to Chessington as part of the European Breeding Programme.

Although Kalinga has never lived with a male lion before and has never bred, zookeepers at Chessington have high hopes for the pair when they meet for the first time in two weeks.

Chessington's previous lioness Davika died in December last year after a short illness. Nine-year-old Ashok has been on his own ever since.