A trio of rare Northern African lion cubs have been born at Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire, marking a huge conservation success for the vulnerable subspecies.
Born to three-year-old lioness Winta, and three-year-old dad Malik, the litter of three arrived on 25th November 2024.
Footage captured by the conservation zoo‘s ‘cub cam’ CCTV shows attentive mum Winta being tender with her tiny newborns, carefully cleaning and nuzzling them. Keepers were happy to see the three cubs quickly get the hang of suckling, and the tiny trio have spent their first few weeks mostly eating and snoozing.
The three cubs are an important boost to the conservation breeding programme for Northern African lions, a subspecies that was first identified in 1758 but only officially confirmed in 2017 by scientific studies which recognised that there are in fact two distinct subspecies of African lion – Northern and Southern – with Northern lions facing greater threats in the wild and therefore in most need of vital conservation attention.
The conservation breeding programme for Northern African lions is not only vital for creating an important insurance population of the threatened big cats in good zoos and protecting the lineage of this subspecies, but through meticulous and complex planning, the programme makes sure matches within the breeding population are genetically viable.
Sarah McGregor, team leader of predators at Whipsnade Zoo, said: “We’re delighted to share that we’ve had three incredibly important Northern African lion cubs born at Whipsnade Zoo.”
“It’s been 17 years since we last had African lion cubs at Whipsnade, so these three new additions really are something special for us. Their arrival is not only very exciting, but an especially important boost to the conservation breeding programme for these amazing big cats.”
Whipsnade Zoo‘s vets and keepers have been remotely monitoring Winta and her litter to allow mum and her cubs to establish their important bond and let Winta settle into her new role of mum, but have been delighted to see her take to motherhood so well.
The three cubs are yet to be named, with keepers unable to confirm the cubs’ sexes until their first vet check and vaccinations, which will take place when they are around eight weeks old.
Sarah added: “Like lots of families around the UK at this time of year, the cold December weather means mum and cubs will be spending their time inside their cosy and warm house, but we can’t wait to introduce them to our visitors in the new year when they’re bigger and stronger.”
Sadly, three quarters of African lion populations are declining in the wild, driven by large-scale habitat conversion for logging, livestock farming and housing, the loss of prey through unsustainable hunting, and human/wildlife conflict.
ZSL, the international conservation charity behind Whipsnade Zoo, works in the W-Arli-Pendjari conservation complex, spanning the borders of Burkina Faso, Niger and Benin, which holds 90% of the lions remaining in West Africa, to support a wide number of species including lions through research, monitoring and supporting national capacity for wildlife conservation.
Every visit this Christmas and new year will help to support international charity ZSL’s science and conservation work to protect and restore wildlife around the world. To find out more and book, click here.
Remembering Lions
Remembering Lions is the fourth book in the highly acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of charity books and features a foreword by Jonathan and Angela Scott. The book is full of beautiful images donated by more than 70 of the world’s top wildlife photographers including Marsel van Oosten, Frans Lanting, Art Wolfe, Steve Winter and Michael Poliza, with an aim to raise awareness of the plight facing lions and also to raise funds to protect them. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
£54.78
Discover Animals is a small team dedicated to bringing you the latest conservation and nature news. If you enjoy our content, please support our work with a donation from as little as £1.
