Three Asiatic lion cubs born in Fota Wildlife Park are to leave their east Cork home for Wingham Wildlife Park in Canterbury in the UK, with visitors here having a final opportunity to see them over the coming weeks.
The trio of male cubs were born to mother Arya and father Yali in June 2024 as part of on-going efforts at Fota to save the endangered species.
The three were named Theo, Rakesh and Thor following an invitation to the public to help name them.
The Asiatic lion is a distinct subspecies from African lions, with Fota Wildlife Park playing a key role in the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria Ex-situ Programme (EEP), which is a population management programme for over 500 animal species, coordinated by experts.
The three lion cubs will leave for the EEP programme at the Wingham Wildlife Park.
It is estimated between 500 and 600 individual Asiatic lions remain in the wild in India’s Gir Forest.
Fota will also bid farewell to Jai, the only Indian rhino ever born in Ireland.
Jai, the only Indian rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis) ever born in Ireland will move to Edinburgh Zoo
He was one of only six Indian rhino births in any zoological institution in the world that year.
He is moving to Edinburgh Zoo as part of the species’ EEP.
Jai was born in September 2022 to Maya and Jamil after a gestation period of 16 months.
The species is listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with some 3,300 animals remaining in the wild across India and Nepal.
International breeding programmes involving Fota Wildlife Park, a wildlife conservation charity, in coordination with zoos across Europe and the UK help maintain genetically healthy populations of endangered species and support long term global wildlife conservation efforts.