Last modified: Tuesday, October 14, 2008 10:14 AM EDT
Three roars for Ramses ATTLEBORO -- Now the nation knows about Ramses, the city's rare white lion which sent zoo attendance skyrocketing. He shares space with an elephant named Scotty at the Louisville (Kentucky) Zoo, a gorilla named Colo at the Columbus (Ohio) Zoo, a panda named Taishan at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., and an orangutan called Janey at the San Diego Zoo. "We're in very good company," Zoo Director Jean Benchimol said, referring to the other animals who live at bigger and better-known zoos. "All those animals deserve recognition, and we're happy to be part of that." Ramses, a 2-year-old male, whose name means "sun born," debuted to rave reviews in April and has been drawing visitors by the thousands ever since. His presence helped push zoo attendance over 100,000 patrons for the first time in recent memory, and perhaps ever. "I think the community has fallen hard for him," Benchimol said. "They keep coming back to see how he's changing as he grows up." Ramses will be full grown at the age of 4. While zoo attendance has been on the rise for three years due to new exhibits and ongoing improvements, Benchimol said Ramses was a key factor in boosting patronage by 29 percent in fiscal year 2008, which ended June 30. "He's been the most popular exhibit, without a doubt," she said. Ramses' debut in April boosted that month's attendance to 20,197, the highest monthly total in the three years Benchimol has been at the zoo's helm. May and June followed with numbers of 17,801 and 17,296 visitors respectively, the second and third highest monthly totals over that three year period. Final attendance figures for the last fiscal year came in just under 103,000. Meanwhile, sun glasses won't do this celebrity from the animal kingdom any good if he wants to be incognito because his white fur makes him easily distinguishable from his tawny-colored den mates. Genetically, a white lion is the same as brownish lions, but when two lions with a recessive gene for white fur mate, a white cub is produced. White lions are not endangered, but they are rare because the light fur makes them visible to predators as cubs and prized by hunters as adults. It's hoped that Ramses will eventually mate with one of the 3-year-old female lions who shares his den. Both have the recessive gene and white lion cubs are likely to be produced from the match, Benchimol said. Ramses arrived at the zoo from a wildlife preserve in South Africa last December with $40,000 worth of financial help from The Friends of Capron Park Zoo and two McDonald's restaurants. |
