Taronga Zoo’s new lion cubs growing quickly as staff ask for help in naming one

Taronga Zoo staff say the five new lion cubs are growing quickly, are playful and curious. As they reveal their progress so far, they are also giving readers a chance to help name one of the cubs.

The arrival of five lion cubs at ­Taronga Zoo is bringing much-­needed joy to their devoted keepers, but for carnivore supervisor Louise Ginman the love goes back to before they were born.

Zookeepers meet many animals in their careers but some stick with them more than others, and that was the case for the cubs’ great-grandfather Bruiser.

In 1999, Ms Ginman had the privilege of hand-rearing Bruiser and they became fast friends – the keeper still keeps a picture of the late lion in her office.

“Some animals just get right there in your heart and that was certainly me with Bruiser,” she said.

Ms Ginman was also present when Bruiser successfully mated and produced his own cubs in 2003 – the last time Taronga had lion cubs.

Now, 18 years later, Taronga has five happy, healthy and playful cubs, with one even nicknamed Baby Bruiser.

It’s the first time Taronga has seen cubs in 18 years Picture: Toby Zerna

The cubs are healthy and starting to play. Picture: Toby Zerna

Carnivore supervisor Louise Ginman. Picture: Toby Zerna

One of the cute little cubs. Picture: Toby Zerna

The cubs, born to mum Maya and dad Ato, are now six weeks old.

“It has created a big buzz among our staff and our carnivore team has been working towards this for a long time,” Ms Ginman said.

“It’s lifted our spirits and it’s so lovely having little lion cubs to wake up to in the morning.”

For the first few days of raising lion cubs at Taronga, it’s crucial that the keepers stay as hands off as possible.

Other than giving mum and cubs breakfast, the ­keepers spend their time monitoring the cubs’ behaviour through live cameras.

“We literally creep in, feed them then leave,” Ms Ginman said.

“We are recording how many times she feeds them, how much they are sleeping and when they are moving around.”

The cubs at two weeks old. Picture: Louise Ginman

The cubs are playful. Picture: Toby Zerna

The siblings explore their new home at the zoo. Picture: Toby Zerna

For the first seven days, the keepers watch the live feeds like hawks, monitoring every second to make sure nothing goes wrong.

By day six the cubs’ eyes were open, and by day 12 the keepers had their first handling.

“While mum was out eating her breakfast we went in for 5-10 minutes. We quickly weighed and sexed each cub, so we knew we had three girls and two boys,” Ms Ginman said.

“At that stage they were still relatively helpless, they have an excellent sense of smell but their eyesight is still developing.”

From 14 days old the keepers were handling the cubs every day from five to 30 minutes at a time, to vaccinate them and to get them used to having humans around.

Week two: First weigh in at Taronga Zoo. Picture: Supplied

Week three: Blue eyes starting to open but will change around three months.

When the cubs are three weeks old, mum and dad are allowed back together for brief times to strengthen their bond for when the cubs are eventually introduced to dad in about a month’s time.

“Once they are four weeks of age they become a lot more mobile and we see the beginnings of play behaviour, they are mouthing on their mums tail, then at five weeks we see play and wrestle behaviour between the cubs,” Ms Ginman said.

Now at six weeks, the cubs are starting to leave the maternity nest and the keepers are starting to ­introduce toys for them to play with.

This week two cubs were spotted chewing on meat and interacting with some grass – small steps that for Ms Ginman are beyond exciting.

Week four: Cubs sticking together as their spots become more defined. Picture: Supplied

Week four: One of the lion cubs’ paws. Picture: Supplied

Week five: Cubs becoming more playful and curious. Picture: Supplied

Week five: Venturing out of the nest box more. Picture: Supplied

Week six: Putting on about 700-900g each week. Picture: Supplied

“Watching them in those first moments of play … it’s pretty special,” she said.

“Every day they are growing and developing, this morning we saw a female lapping water off the floor and that’s only the second time we’ve seen them do that.

“You just want to stay in the ­moment and watch them where they are right now because it won’t be long and they’ll be grown up. In two years’ time we will have grown-up lions.”

Taronga Zoo Sydney has asked The Sunday Telegraph readers for help naming one of the lion cubs.

Readers can vote between Luzoko, meaning ‘glory’, Khari, meaning ‘like a king’, and Mahiri, meaning ‘skilful and clever’.

Visit the Taronga cub cam website and choose one of the three names above, and in 25 words or less explain why you chose that name.

Twenty lucky individuals will win a family pass to Taronga Zoo which permits entry for two adults and two children, valued at $152.

The zoo’s competition closes on Wednesday, October 6.

To find out how to vote and to watch the cubs grow visit taronga.org.au/cubcam.

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