NZ50 Timeline or TimeLion sign erected 2019, removed late 2023.
Update February 2024: It is now almost a year since March 2023 when our three African Lions Amahle, Semira and Boss finally moved to a newer, bigger enclosure at our sister zoo Paignton Zoo, bringing to an end the sights, sounds and scent-marking smells of almost 54 years of keeping African Lions at Newquay Zoo.
As the information from May 2019 had aged, we dismantled our NZ50 Time Line for the zoo’s 50th Birthday along the Maze Road / Half Round bank below the Tarzan Trail.
https://newquayzoohistory.wordpress.com/2022/03/12/newquay-zoo-nz50-timeline-panels-2019/
This leaves us ready for some new displays for NZ60 in 2029.
Why remove this NZ50 timeline? We didn’t intend this to be permanent and it was looking rather dated. Much has changed at The Wild Planet Trust since it was erected (pre Covid 19) along by the Maze Road / Half Round bank of the Tarzan Trail, including the closure of Living Coasts in 2020 and changes to our overseas conservation projects.
I find it hard to keep the order of Newquay lions, their mates and their zoo dates in my head, so I have preserved this information here on this blogpost.
This patchy rough Time Line (or Time Lion?) of our resident Lions, produced for our NZ50 (our 50th birthday in 2019), showed some of the gaps in our lion knowledge at the time. (NZ50 Timeline sign erected 2019-removed 2023).
We now have confirmed newsletter pictures of Ronnie – see the 2000 Paw Prints newsletters.
May 1969 – Male NZL1 and female lion NZL2 arrived from Bristol Zoo – ‘Presented’
These first lions or the next pair may have been called Queenie and Charlie (according to long serving keeper Roger Williams).
From their death dates in 1973 and 1974, they were probably mature or aged lions.
2 March 1973 – Male NZL1 put down – radial paralysis.
For a brief period of nine months in April 1973 to January 1974 we appaer to hade had 3 lions on site.
1st April 1973 – New male NZL3 and female Lion NZL4 arrived from Sherwood Zoo (£500) – young 4 year olds.
26 January 1974 – NZL 2 the first Old Lioness died – no cause given.
1970s Lioness – the old Lion House, now demolished and home to wallabies and pademelons.
The 1970s and 1980s – Ross and Demelza
1977? Ross and Demelza were a pair of young lions who arrived from a local St. Columb farm, NZ record cards from the mid 1990s estimate birth date as 1975/6. (Poldark was first on the BBC October 1975 – December 1977)
Ross’ surviving record card (from about 1994) suggests he arrived at Newquay Zoo in October 1989 aged about 14 or 15. However the press reports on his death suggest that he arrived c. 1977 from the Bazeley farm at Retallick or Retallack, not W. Cornwall but near St Columb Major).
On his death Ross was reckoned to be at least 20, if not 22 / 23 and in good condition, possibly the oldest Lion in Europe staff at Newquay Zoo claimed at the time.
1977 is linked as a date with the Dangerous Wild Animals Act of 1977, covering such animals.
October 1989 is written on some mid 1990s Animal World era record cards for Ross’ arrival. Would October 1989 be a possible mistake for October 1979?
Demelza had presumably died by the time Lizzie arrived from Longleat in August 1988. We have no record card for Demelza.
Ross and Lizzie (1988 -1997)
When Mike Thomas took over the Zoo, Lizzie and Ross were the long-term resident lions in the New Lion House.
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Lizzie
28 August 1988 – Lizzie arrived from Longleat (unknown parentage), aged 1 to 2 years old.
8 October 1997 – Ross died aged 21/22, old age.
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Major
15 October 1997 – Major arrived to pair with Lizzie.
Major was born at Longleat on 25.7.87 to Benny and Petra. Some press accounts state that Major and Ronnie were brothers. The zoo sign in October 1997 suggests half brothers.
3 August 2000 – Major dies aged 13 from Feline CJD. This was thought to have been a consequence back in his Longleat youth of having been fed whole carcass meat of cow etc back in the days before BSE / “Mad Cow Disease” was widley known.
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Ronnie
5 November 2000 – Ronnie his half ‘brother’ arrived.
He was born Longleat 28.8.88 to Tara and Squire? Some press accounts state that Major and Ronnie were brothers, who fought Major repeatedly lost. So Major originally arrived here to avoid fighting at Longleat. The August 2000 Newquay zoo sign in October 1997 suggests the two males were half brothers.
Ronnie was paired with Lizzie until her death on 24 Feb 2002.
24 February 2002 – Lizzie died from pyometra (womb infection) or uterine torsion, not Feline CJD .
Connie
6 March 2002 – Connie arrives to be a companion lioness to her dad Ronnie.
Connie was born at Longleat 12 August 1996, sire Ronnie, dam Enya.
5 September 2007 -Ronnie died aged 19, mobility problems.
Kabir
16 October 2007 – Kabir arrives from Longleat to partner Connie.
Kabir was born Rabat Zoo Morocco c. 1993 and arrived via Linton Zoo and Longleat.
8 March 2008 – Kabir died, fractured elbow / limb aged c. 15
Long gap of 18 months (March 2008 to September 2009) where Connie was on her own, awaiting a new companion male.
Charlie
30 September 2009 – Charlie arrived from Longleat to partner Connie.
Charlie was born 1998 Longleat (sire LN183, LN177)
Charlie died of age related disease at 14 years old on 6 March 2012.
Samson (Jasiri)
27 March 2012 – Samson arrived to partner Connie from Combe Martin Wildlife Park where he had been kicked out by the other males in his pride. He was born at Linton 9 June 2007 and moved to Combe Martin in February 2008.
John Meek (Newquay Zoo website source) ‘‘Sampson is 5 years old and he came to Combe Martin along with his brothers. He has been kept by himself for the last 8 months as the dominant male amongst his siblings took a disliking to him. Therefore it seems perfect that he comes down to Newquay to keep our female company.’’
Connie died 27 July 2014, aged 18.
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Amahle
4 August 2014 – Amahle arrived from Longleat to partner Samson. They did not get on.
Amahle was born Longleat 30 August 2012 along with Semira, Harry and Boss to father Hugo and dam Nikita.
19 December 2014 – Samson departed to Dartmoor Zoo Park, renamed Jasiri.
Boss and Semira
c. 18 February 2015 – Boss (male) and Semira (female) arrive to join their sister at Newquay Zoo.
March 2023: Our three lions Boss, Samira and Amahle were our last lions at Newquay Zoo finally left us all together in March 2023 to join our sister zoo at Paignton Zoo in a newer, bigger more suitable habitat to grow old in.
They have moved and settled into the recently vacated Asian Lion enclosure, freed up when the last Asian Lion left on breeding loan in Ireland (Fota Wildlife Park in Cork?)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-59392682
Staff film or keeper phone footage captured the move, posted on our Newquay Zoo / Wild Planet Trust Youtube Channel https://youtu.be/RJk5iZZ4CEA
End of the Newquay Time Lion.
Many of the local residents in Newquay report how quite it now is without them, without hearing the call of our lions 3 to 4 miles away!
The new or 1980s Lion House will be redeveloped, most likely as a second and separable wing to our current Lynx enclosure (the old 1998 Puma Enclosure).
Blog posted by Mark Norris, Newquay Zoo Education Officer, February / March 2024 using Newquay Zoo Archive materials
Conservation begins at home – Strapwort in Devon and now again in Cornwall. 
More Cornwall Tourism and BIAZA Zoo Awards for our new Junior Keeper scheme and sustainability training.
We and many other BIAZA Zoos also supported South American conservation by fundraising for acquiring forest nature reserves as part of the 
Richard Jenkin was our zoo gardener in 2010, joining a long list since 1968/69 of gardeners who have added something to our our grounds, as he mentions in his interview:
Enrichment activities for the animals …
newquayzoohistory 