The Bronx Zoo wants to introduce you to three small (though not for long) furry new friends. Triplet lions cubs, born to the zoo’s breding pair Sukara and M’wasi. The triplet’s older sister, Moxi, who was born a year ago, was the first lion cub born in captivity in 31 years. The zoo hopes that she and her insanely adorable younger siblings (one male and two females) will be the first in Sukara and M’wasi’s hopefully large dynasty.
Lions are disappearing in the wild. Destruction of their natural habitat in sub-Saharan Africa and conflicts with humans are the primary culprits. The Bronx Zoo, and others like it, hope that their breding program will ensure the survival of the species, and help inspire support for the Wildlife Conservation Society’s efforts to save wild lions.
Sukara, the cub’s mother, and M’wasi, the cub’s father, were transferred to the Bronx Zoo from other zoos in 2005 as part of the Species Survival Plan. M’wasi, 8 and Sukari, 5, were an ideal match on a genetic level because they each have genes under-represented in captive lions. It took a little while to find the personality match though. Sukara was still basically a cub when M’wasi joined her.
“She didn’t have her social skills,” Breheny explained to the New York Daily News. “Running and jumping on him, ambushing him from behind – he’s trying to rest and she’s climbing all over him.” But M’wasi persevered, and, ”She grew up and matured,” Breheny said. “She became a lioness, and not a cub.”
“She grew up and matured,” Breheny said. “She became a lioness, and not a cub.”
The Bronx Zoo is hoping we will help them, and the lion family, pick new names for the triplets. Send your ideas here!
