Oklahoma City Zoo welcomes five African lion cubs

22.05.2024 20:44

Kfor.com

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - The Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden welcomed five new additions on Monday, May 20.

According to the Zoo, African lioness Dunia gave birth to her five cubs at the Lion Overlook at Exhibition Africa.

This is Dunia's second litter with male, Hubert "Huey", 12. Her first litter was born in September 2022 and was very special as it had been 15 years since the Zoo welcomed a litter of African lion cubs.

African lioness Dunia. Image courtesy OKC Zoo, credit Mandi T.

Dunia and Hubert "Huey". Image courtesy OKC Zoo, credit Andrea J.

The birth comes after the OKC Zoo took to social media with a video of an ultrasound showing a baby animal on Wednesday, May 8.

Baby animal ultrasound. Image courtesy Oklahoma City Zoo.

“We’re beaming with pride that to share that our animal family is growing! Can you guess which mama’s ultrasound this is?” said the OKC Zoo on Facebook.

A few days later, on Friday, May 10, the Zoo announced that Dunia was expecting.

“We are excited to be expanding our lion pride by a few more cute faces.” added the Zoo.

According to officials, Dunia gave birth to her first four cubs between 4:30 and 11:30 a.m. on Monday and surprised caretakers with her fifth a few hours later.

Dunia and her cubs. Image courtesy Oklahoma City Zoo.

Dunia and her babies are doing well. They are spending time together and bonding as the Zoo's carnivore caretakers closely monitor the family.

“We are excited to welcome the cubs to the Zoo and look forward to watching our pride grow! Seeing Dunia become a mom again is an incredible experience that we are grateful to be able to witness a second time,” said Tyler Boyd, the Zoo’s Curator of Carnivores. “This birth is significant to not only the OKC Zoo but lion populations globally. African lions are classified as vulnerable through the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and we are excited to be able to increase the lion population globally. We look forward to sharing more about the cubs soon.”

According to the Zoo, lions have a gestation period, or pregnancy period, of around 108 days or a little over three months. The Zoo houses a pride of seven lions including female lions Dunia, Moto, Neema, Zahara and Makena and males Huey and Mshango.