This 3-week-old cub weighed the same as a newborn human baby when he tumbled out of his den at the Denver Zoo last week. The cub was born on Thursday, July 25 and has yet to be named or given a gender to. All this cub knows is what his instincts have told him. He needs to be with his mommy!
So, what did he do? He climbed out of his cage in search of his mother Neliah. Neliah is seven-years-old, four years older than the cub’s dad Tobias. When this cub thought he needed her, he tumbled on out of his den, falling to the padding below.
“This is Neliah’s second time around as a mom, so we were confident she’d show all the correct behaviors with her new cub,” said Assistant Curator of Predators Matt Lenyo. “She immediately started grooming and nursing the cub, which is exactly what we hoped she would do.”
So, as you can see, the mother isn’t kept from her cub at all times. But sometimes, mommy crawls out of the den and needs time to herself. Isn’t that so relatable? Maybe she just needed to go to the bathroom?
That’s when little no-name decided he needed to see her. According to Denver Zoo, “Half of Africa’s lions have disappeared in the past 25 years and the species faces growing threats from poaching, loss of prey and habitat destruction. The cub’s birth is a huge success for the Lion Species Survival Plan (SSP), which ensures healthy, genetically diverse populations of lions within Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) institutions.”
Just last year, Neliah gave birth to a girl Kamara, so it looks like this little cub has a sister already! But it is only his half-sister.
“Tobias hasn’t fathered any cubs previously, which makes his genetics important to the AZA lion population,” the program leader for the African Lion SAFE (Saving Animals from Extinction) Program states. “The fact that he’s already successfully mated with one of our females speaks to the work our lion team put in to make Tobias feel comfortable in his new home in such a short period of time.”
Can’t you just see his mommy’s face in the picture above saying, “what have I gotten myself into? Five minutes of peace, that’s all I ask for.” Initially, Neliah and the cub were supposed to stay behind the scenes for at least one to two months to give them time to bond. That’s why they are alone and not with the pride. The only time any humans can see them is through a video that plays occasionally at the zoo. That’s where this video was captured.
That’s also where you can see him playing ball in his den. Seeing how sweet he is makes us ecstatic to see what his name will be. He sure does look like lots of fun.
He also loves to take baths. Somtimes! His mommy Neliah has to force him to finish his baths on occasion because little cub wants to go play with his siblings. He’s even been introduced to his daddy through a mesh.
These two are just about more than one can take. They are as adorable as they come! If you’ve fallen in love with this family, you can always donate to the “baby registry” to give them your gift of choice.
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