The new enclosure allows the lions to roam around 8.5 acres of natural environment, while they can retreat to a cosy yard and den at night if they wish.

Greg Kirk is a zoo keeper at TWPZ, following in his father’s footsteps. His dad was a zoo keeper at Sydney’s Taronga before transferring to the then Dubbo Western Plains Zoo. Greg has worked for TWPZ for 27 years, both as a tour guide and zoo keeper, and has cared for all kinds of animals, but, after working with tigers for a decade he grew to enjoy the big cats.

He finds the lions a fascinating and interesting species and said the Pride Lands exhibit is a great chance to learn about the lions.

“The design and the layout of the new enclosure is fantastic. The lions love their new environment so much, it’s hard to describe but you can see that they’re enjoying it and they’re engaged. They’re climbing trees, racing around and tackling each other just like they would in the wild,” he said.

The new enclosure has an array of local wildlife around such as birds who try to steal the lions food which also keeps them on their toes. One of the main benefits is that visitors can get so much closer to the animals.

With no moats, people are just three centimetres away from the lions and Greg said the animals enjoy it as much as the visitors, with the Pride Lands a very immersive exhibit.

“The lions can interact with the people up close and are very interested in them, especially the little ones. They love the interaction for example when we are cleaning the exhibit, they chase the squeegee, whereas previously games would be limited to when we are feeding them,” he said.

The new exhibit also brings benefits for the keepers. 

“The design and layout is new and exciting and it means we are able to interact better with the lions in a more natural environment. We can manage a larger pride of lions and can begin a superior breeding program to what we had in the past. We have had two litters in the last three years and now have two females coming from San Diego to boost our breeding capacity and genetic makeup, and hopefully a male from South Australia,” he said.

The Pride Lands allow visitors to see and engage more, not only with the lions but also with the keepers. 

“It gives us the opportunity to better educate visitors on the lions themselves and conservation programs that are in place to protect lions in the wild,” he said.

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