Taronga Western Plains Zoo celebrates the birth of three African lion cubs

Taronga Western Plains Zoo has announced the birth of three African lion cubs - the first litter on site for over five years. Take a look at the new arrivals.

Zookeepers at the Taronga Western Plains Zoo are celebrating the birth of not one, but three new African lion cubs last month.

The arrival of the all-female cubs – born to parents Marion and Lwazi – was confirmed on Wednesday morning by the zoo, which noted that it was the first litter of lions on site since 2016.

Senior zookeeper Melanie Friedman told The Dubbo News about the birth on April 7, which saw mother Marion require a caesarean.

“It’s fantastic, it’s been a number of years in the making and all of the hard work across all the areas, it’s great to end up with a successful birth of three cubs,” Ms Friedman said.

“After delivering the first two cubs, we noticed she was struggling with the next one.

“After a certain period of time, in consultation with our veterinary team, we decided to go in and double check and based on their basic exam it was decided that she needed to have a caesarean.”

Ms Friedman confirmed that Marion had recovered well since the surgery, and said “she’s doing brilliantly (and) has healed up really nicely”.

Three African lion cubs were born at Taronga Western Plains Zoo last month.

The cubs are now starting to familiarise themselves with their new environment and at almost four weeks old, they are close to being ready to meet their father, Lwazi, while they complete further medical requirements.

“We will be doing their first vaccinations in the next few weeks, and they will be microchipped as well and just a general health assessment,” Ms Friedman said.

“Basically it’s just spending more time with mum, and eventually they will get to the point where they start exploring outside of their den, because they haven’t left their den yet.

“They’ll have to meet dad at some point as well. He’s a first-time dad, he will be a little bit unsure about the weird little things around his feet.”

Three female lion cubs were born at Taronga Western Plains Zoo.

Seven-year-old Marion arrived from the United States in 2018 and was introduced to four-year-old Lwazi last year and the relationship has paid dividends for the zoo.

The three cubs are yet to be named.

Three lion cubs born at Taronga Western Plains Zoo, Dubbo.

According to the National Geographic website, African lions in the wild have “shrunk in half over the past 25 years”, meaning they are considered a vulnerable species.