African lion · No. 8 of 22
The Five-Brother Package Deal
Oklahoma City moved an entire litter to Tampa as one unit.
The Deal
The Grades
Busch Gardens
Filled a brand new 35,000 square foot habitat with a ready-made coalition. No introduction risk, because they already know each other.
Oklahoma City
Cleared five males at once and freed the roster. Hard to get value back on a package like this.
The Breakdown
Package deals are rare in this sport because the receiving institution has to have somewhere to put everyone. Busch Gardens built somewhere: a 35,000 square foot habitat of replica Serengeti kopje rock with rotating lion and hyena enclosures and a pedestrian bridge overhead.
Then they filled it in one transaction. Henry, Herman, Hugo, Lou and Pascal moved together from Oklahoma City as an intact coalition, which removes the single biggest risk in any big-cat acquisition: the introduction. These five have known each other their whole lives.
For Oklahoma City it is a clean-out. Five males of the same age is not a roster, it is a logjam, and every one of them needed somewhere to go. Moving them as a unit to a franchise with a brand-new facility is the best outcome available.
