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November 26, 2012 Anniversary of the First Exhibition of a Lion in America

November 26, 2012

Therenwas a time when most people in the world would live and die without ever getting to see a lion.
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nOr a giraffe. Or a hippo, rhino, gorilla, zebra, or elephant.n
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nItnis startling to think about people living their entire lives withoutnever seeing even one of all the exotic animals we get tonsee—on TV and in movies, in books and photos and on theninternet—but also live, “in the flesh,” in zoos and circusesnand other exhibits. n

Injust went to the Los Angeles Zoo and had a fantastic time seeing allnthe typical (to us! – to we lucky ones who live in modern times!)nzoo animals such as koalas and monkeys and tigers. I had an evennbetter time seeing some unusual animals I had never seen before, suchnas the Chinese giant salamander (a 6-foot-long salamander!) and thenBabirusa (a “pig deer” whose tusks grow up through its snout andnbegin to look almost like antlers!).

nAndnnow, today, I am reading that the very first exotic animal ever knownnto be exhibited in America was a lion shown in Boston, Massachusetts, on this date in 1716.

nSonthis exhibit was one exotic animal. Not a zoo.

nFivenyears later Bostonians got another thrilling creature exhibition: ancamel.

nWhoo-oo!nTWO animals!

nPeoplenin America had to wait more than a century and a half for an entirenzoo to open; in 1874 the Philadelphia Zoo opened and invitednvisitors to view more than 800 animals.

nBynthe way…

nThenAfrican lion exhibited in Boston in 1716 was exotic because it camenfrom far, far away. But did you know that there used to be an animalncalled an American lion?

I’mnnot talking about that fearsome modern creature we sometimes call thenmountain lion—but that we more commonly call a puma, panther, or cougar. I’m talking about an animal that lived for thousands ofnyears in North and South America—a huge member of the cat familynthat was 25% larger than the modern African lion—a creature thatnwent extinct around 10 to 11 thousand years ago: the American lion. n

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nAmerica’snsecond “exotic creature,” the camel, also used to live here andnactually first evolved here. For thousands of years various species of camels lived in the Americas. Some migrated over anland bridge to Asia, and all the camels that stayed in the Americasnwent extinct about 10 to 11 thousand years ago.

nIfnyou are wondering why both American lions and American camels diednout about 10 to 11 thousand years ago, you should know that thensaber-tooth cat, mammoth, mastodon, giant sloth, American horse,ngiant beaver, and other large mammals also died out at the same time.nScientists aren’t sure why so many megafauna (large animal) speciesnwent extinct during the late Pleisotcene, but climate change, habitatnshifts, and human hunting probably all played a role.

nDidnyou know…?

nSomenscientists have suggested “rewilding” America by bringing overnlarge mammals such as African lions, cheetahs, camels, and elephantsnto the North American prairies and allowing them to freely roam inn“ecological history parks” or “Pleistocene parks.” This wouldnrestore some of the ecological balance that humans have disrupted bynremoving so many large species—especially predators—and it wouldnbe a second safeguard for today’s endangered animals (zoos are thenfirst safeguard). You can read about rewilding here and here.

nAlsonon this date: