It’s been six months since Taronga Western Plains Zoo welcomed its second litter of lion cubs, born on November 19. The four male cubs have grown from a birth weight of between 1.5 – 2kg each, to now weighing between 25 – 30kg each.
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Their diet has increased gradually over the past few months. The cubs currently receive an average of 2kg of meat per day and are being fed alongside their mother Maya behind the scenes each afternoon.
Father Lazarus can be seen on exhibit with mum and the cubs every second day. According to keepers, the cubs are very keen to go onto exhibit each day and seem particularly interested in interacting with their older female siblings, Makeba and Zuri. They climb on and fall off their big sisters and play with the tufts of fur on their tails.
Although older male sibling Baako is not sharing a space with the cubs currently, he does have fence contact at night with them and the cubs often show some real brotherly love towards Baako, which is great to see.
This behaviour includes stalking him and biting at his mane when he happens to stick it through the fence when resting.
The cubs are weighed weekly on some large scales that they walk over as part of their daily routine. With their juvenile enthusiasm the scales often read in excess of 100kg, as all four often plonk themselves on them at once.
Little do they know, their current home is now only temporary and towards the end of the year the pride will all be relocated to the new African Pridelands exhibit, currently under construction towards the end of the zoo circuit.
The best time to see the lion cubs is in the morning when they are most active. Visitors can learn more about the pride at the daily keeper talk at 12.45pm.
OTHER ZOO NEWS
Otter pup starts exploring
A tiny otter pup has begun to venture outside its nest at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo after being delivered in a lifesaving caesarean birth. Veterinarians were called in to save the Oriental small-clawed otter pup on February 28 after mother Pia was unable to give birth naturally.
Pia was found to be carrying three pups, but sadly all of the pups were unresponsive when they were delivered and only one survived.
After the spending its first 10 weeks developing in its nestbox, the male pup has just begun to explore outdoors under the close watch of Pia and father Ketut.
Ketut arrived at Taronga from Perth Zoo in 2015 and his successful paring with Pia is seen as an encouraging sign for the regional breeding program for oriental small-clawed itters.
The pup is the first successful otter birth at Taronga in more than 15 years.
Classed as a vulnerable species, populations continue to be threatened by habitat loss, water pollution and poaching for the fur trade.
