By Geena Monahan—For the North Star Reporter
More than 100 visitors packed Capron Park Zoo to celebrate a milestone few lions ever reach.
Ramses, the zoo’s beloved white lion and longtime ambassador, turned 20 this month, an age zookeepers say is remarkable for any lion and especially significant for a white lion, whose genetic rarity has historically made survival in the wild far more difficult.
Despite temperatures approaching 90 degrees by mid-morning on July 1, families filled the zoo from 10 a.m. to noon for the birthday celebration, which featured crafts, cake, ice cream and a community rendition of “Happy Birthday.”
For zookeeper Lino Ribeiro, the occasion marked two decades with the animal he helped bring to Attleboro.
Ribeiro, who has worked at Capron Park Zoo for 22 years, said he traveled to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to retrieve Ramses after the young lion arrived by plane from a zoo in Johannesburg, South Africa, that was closing.
“The Friends of Capron Park Zoo helped fund bringing him here,” Ribeiro said. “He was about a year and a half old when he arrived and weighed about 417 pounds.”
Back then, Ramses looked much different.
“He didn’t have the beautiful, luscious mane he has now,” Ribeiro said. “He had these little mutton chops and a mohawk. He was a lot leaner.”
Over the past two decades, Ribeiro said Ramses has become the face of Capron Park Zoo.
“We’re very blessed to have had him for 20 years,” he said. “The record, from what I understand, is about 25 or 26 years, so we’re incredibly lucky.”
Lions in the wild generally live about half as long, Ribeiro said, while Ramses benefits from annual physical exams, dental care, vaccinations and close veterinary monitoring.
“He’s doing fantastic for a 20-year-old cat,” Ribeiro said. “He’s eating, he’s out here roaring.”
Ribeiro said white lions face even greater challenges in the wild.
“They’re born bleached white,” he explained. “They don’t have the camouflage to hunt, if they do make it that far, but they’re often picked off early because they’re so bright.”
According to the Global White Lion Protection Trust, white lions are not albinos, but leucistic animals, inheriting a rare recessive gene from both parents that gives them their distinctive white coat. The organization says white lions are native to South Africa’s Timbavati region, where they disappeared from the wild before conservation efforts successfully reintroduced several prides to their natural habitat.
Despite his age, Ribeiro said Ramses still enjoys many of the same things he did as a younger lion.
“We joke that he’s a goofball,” Ribeiro said. “He loves his toys and his treats. To this day, he still plays with them.”
Earlier in the morning, Ramses celebrated with one of his favorite enrichment treats — a frozen “bloodsicle” made from meat.
The celebration, made possible by the South Attleboro Lions Club, included birthday cake donated by Jivas Konos Desserts and ice cream donated by Hershey’s Ice Cream.
Children made lion mane crafts from paper plates, colored pictures of Ramses, created birthday cards and signed a giant birthday sign before receiving goodie bags.
Among them was Benjamin Donahue, who colored with his sister, Rosie. Wearing a green shirt that read “Future Zookeeper,” Donahue said he hopes to one day work at a zoo. His favorite animal is a bear, and his family visits Capron Park Zoo regularly through its membership program.
“I’m so happy for the turnout,” said Alyssa Maxwell of Mansfield, who attended with her children, adding that her family are zoo members and visit often.
The morning concluded with families gathering outside Ramses’ exhibit to sing “Happy Birthday” before birthday cake was served and a $1,000 check from the South Attleboro Lions Club was presented to the zoo.