lion diary

Almost exactly one year to the day since she gave birth to Zara, Safina delighted us all by giving birth to three gorgeous little cubs. The small amount of experience Safina had immediately after Zara was born seems to have paid off tremendously and both Safina and Zuri have turned out to be magnificent parents.

The cubs are now out and about in the main enclosure entertaining the crouds with their playful antics. The following pictures, sent to us by visitors, were taken when the cubs were 7 weeks old.

On 13th May Safina gave birth to a gorgeous little girl which we named Zara, initial signs were good as both Safina and Zuri showed an interest in the cub and she was able to suckle. Safina, being still young herself was unable to continue giving Zara the high level of care and attention she needed and the cub had to be removed for hand rearing. Zara has now moved to Paradise Wildlife Park where they will continue the hand rearing.

Zara has now moved to her new home in Uganda along with Bisa another young lioness, from Paradise Wildlife Park in Hertfordshire. A special project organised by Paradise Wildlife Park allows us to return lions back to Africa.

The lions will be in the care of the Ugandan Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC) based in Entebbe. It is hoped this initial movement will form the basis for an ongoing relationship and a number of joint projects between the Uganda Wildlife Authority, the Ugandan Wildlife Education Centre and zoos in the UK.

SAFINA - AFRICAN LION CUB ON CAMERA - 30th November 2005

Over Christmas and New Year of 2005 visitors to the zoo were able to watch the progress and development of Safina, our African lion cub.

It doesn't seem so long ago that we were announcing the arrival of Riziki and Karla as cubs from Woburn Safari Park, on 30th November 2005 the young pair became proud parents of "Safina". Unfortunately the inexperience of Riziki and Karla meant that we had to remove the little cub for hand-rearing to ensure she survived. Safina, (Swahili for Beautiful One) weighed around two and a half pounds at birth, she has been fed from a baby's bottle on a special milk formula successfully used on both of her parents and by six weeks of age she has transformed from a tiny lifeless cub to a ten pound bundle of mischief! Visitors have been able to watch her progress on a video monitor in the coffee shop.

The observation monitor has created such interest that we are planning to upgrade from a small black and white to large colour screen and with more cubs and babies on the way this will allow visitors to get a good look at an otherwise secret part of the mothers and babies lives. We are hoping that someone, perhaps a security company might like to supply and sponsor the necessary equipment in time for the birth of our next litter of cubs.


Safina 10 days old	Safina 6 weeks	Safina 7 weeks

Recently Safina hit the national news . The media took an interest in her friendship with our ginger tom "Arnie".

Arnie is well loved by regular visitors, he often greets people at the entrance and offers" guided tours"! usually for a share of a picnic. We have a strict policy of only hand-rearing baby animals if it is absolutely necessary and Arnie is always in his element when new cubs or kittens arrive in the household. He helps to wash, groom and take care of the youngsters, but as the cubs grow play time has to be supervised as he doesn't seem to notice, or care, how big and heavy they become.


Safina aged 5 weeks.	"My milk!" Safina aged 11 weeks	Play time

Arnie teaching Safi bad habits	More play time.	Queen of the jungle Safina 13 weeks