Denver Zoo’s lion pride doubled in size Wednesday with the addition of four 1-year-old male lion cubs from a zoo in Kansas.
The cubs, Kito, Bahati, Usiku and Jasiri, were born May 17, 2015, at the Lee Richardson Zoo in Garden City, Kan., Now, they each weigh more than 200 pounds and will join Denver Zoo’s other lions: adult females Neliah and Sabi, male cub Kalu and female cub Kamara, when they become accustomed to their surroundings, a news release from Denver Zoo said.
The cub’s father, Razi, was pushing them out of the pride, which is a natural occurrence as male cubs start to reach sexual maturity, according to the Denver Zoo. Their father, mother, Amali, and sister, Lulu, will remain at Lee Richardson Zoo.
The cubs will be in the maternity area of the Predator Ridge exhibit until they become accustomed to their new surroundings and clear a mandatory quarantine period. Denver Zoo will announce when guests may visit the cubs in their new home and will release updates of the cubs from behind the scenes on and (#16paws).
The cubs came to Denver through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Lion Species Survival Plan. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists lions as a threatened species. Increasing human populations in Africa are reducing and fragmenting wild lions’ available territory and prey.
