New lion brothers at wildlife park 'settling well'

10 hours ago

Ian Palmer,in Winghamand

Hsin-Yi Lo,South East

Wingham Wildlife Park Three lions sleeping next to each other inside an enclosure. — Thor, Rakesh and Theo arrived from Fota Wildlife Park in Ireland at the beginning of May

Three Asiatic lions that recently arrived at a Kent wildlife park are "settling in well" at their new home, the park has said.

Theo, Rakesh and Thor, which are all two-years-old and from the same litter, arrived at Wingham Wildlife Park in Canterbury from Fota Wildlife Park in Ireland at the beginning of May.

Curator Marcus Wilder told the BBC that the trio were "getting on absolutely fine", though it had taken them a while to adjust to new surroundings.

"Asiatic lions can be a little more highly strung and they were parent-reared," he said.

It was the first time that the brothers had left their first home, meaning staff were "doing everything they could" to make the transition easy, Wilder said.

He said that visitors would not be able to see the brothers until they were "completely settled and happy with their new surroundings".

Describing their behaviours, Wilder said that Rakesh was the "more aggressive and confident one" out of the three.

Two of the brothers will eventually leave the sanctuary to be paired with a female as part of the breeding programme managed by the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria.

The wildlife park said it was the only site in Kent that has Asiatic lions.

Ian Palmer/BBC A lion inside an enclosure. There is a drinking sink next to it. — The brothers, who were born in the same litter, arrived at the wildlife park in early May

Wingham Wildlife Park is undergoing an expansion, with plans to build new enclosures for the lions and other residents including black rhinos.

It will also include a glass tunnelled walkway so the lions can use to move between the open area and their covered enclosure.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) says there are between 500 to 600 Asiatic lions remaining.

According to London Zoo, Asiatic lion populations were once present in areas including Turkey and across Asia to eastern India but were hunted to near extinction.

The wildlife park said that the current wild population only lived in Gir Forest, India.

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