Lion that once roamed northern Africa has been extinct in the wild since 1960s
Four Barbary lion cubs were born recently in a Czech zoo, a vital contribution for the small surviving population of a rare lion that is extinct in the wild.
The three females and one male were seen playing in their outdoor enclosure at Dvůr Králové safari park on Wednesday under the watchful eye of their parents, Khalila and Bart.
That will change soon. As part of an international endangered species programme that coordinates efforts for the lions’ survival in captivity, the cubs will be sent to other participating parks, including the Midbarium zoo in Israel.
There is a chance that may not be the end of the story. The deputy director of Dvůr Králové, Jaroslav Hyjánek, said preliminary steps had been taken to possibly reintroduce the Barbary lion into its natural habitat – but that was still in the “far distant future”.
