First African lion cubs born at zoo in 17 years

Three African lion cubs have been born at a Bedfordshire zoo for the first time in seventeen years.

Their parents, three-year-old lioness Winta, and three-year-old dad Malik, arrived at Whipsnade Zoo from zoos in Belgium and Germany last year.

Before that, Whipsnade had been without lions since early 2022, after two lions had to be euthanised for age related conditions.

The cubs, which were born on 25 November, will be named when they are eight weeks old, after they have had their first vet check which will confirm their genders.

According to Whipsnade, the three cubs were part of a Northern African lion subspecies, that was first identified in 1758 but only officially confirmed in 2017 by scientific studies.

Sarah McGregor, team leader of predators at Whipsnade Zoo, said: "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."

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