Whipsnade Zoo: Pride of lions due to arrive from Europe

North African lioness Winta will arrive at Whipsnade from Antwerp Zoo

A new pride of lions is set to find a permanent home at a zoo which has been hosting visiting animals for more than a year.

North African lionesses Waka and Winta will arrive at Whipsnade Zoo from Antwerp after Khari the North African lion heads back to Blackpool Zoo.

The pair will later be joined by male lion Malik from Neuwied Zoo in Germany.

A zoo spokesman said the new pride was "part of a collaborative breeding programme for the species".

The Bedfordshire zoo's lion habitat has not had a permanent pride since early 2022 after keepers had to put its remaining two lions to sleep.

Kia and Max were euthanised after "succumbing to a number of age-related conditions" and their deaths followed that of their sibling Neo the previous November.

At the time, the zoo said the habitat would remain empty while it found "the right breeding group".

It has since hosted lions which needed a temporary home, including five from Africa Alive at Kessingland in Suffolk whose enclosure was damaged during Storm Eunice in February 2022.

They stayed for about two months while their enclosure was repaired.

Lioness Waka will also join the pride in early May

Khari, who has been at Whipsnade for about a year while Blackpool's new big cat facilities were being built, is due to return to the north west in early May.

Waka and Winta will arrive from Antwerp Zoo in Belgium shortly after that and 18-month-old Malik will join in early June.

Zoological manager, Matt Webb, said forming this new pride was part of its "vital work protecting the vulnerable species".

"Three quarters of African lion populations are declining, with these declines being driven by large-scale habitat conversion, the loss of prey through unsustainable hunting and human/wildlife conflict," he said.

"ZSL, the international conservation charity behind Whipsnade Zoo, is working across Africa to save animals on the brink of extinction, as well as those threatened species that could be next.

"We hope to hear the pitter patter of tiny paws at Whipsnade over the next few years."

Two-year-old Naya has arrived at Whipsnade with two other European brown bears Mana and Minion

Earlier this month, three new European brown bears arrived at the zoo from Orsa Predator Park in Sweden.

Three-year-old sisters Mana and Minion moved with two-year-old Naya. They joined seven-year-old Cinderella who had been the zoo's only bear after two were shot and killed in May 2021 when they used a fallen tree to climb out of their enclosure.

"Visitors will be able to spot [the new bears] as they explore their new home and get to know Cinderella over the coming weeks," Mr Webb said.