Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Lion around! Zoo's playful pride roll in a huge mound of leaves that have been scented with spices as an autumn treat

  • Lions Heidi, Indi, Rubi and Bhanu playfully rolled around in mountain of pumpkin-spiced colourful leaves
  • Zookeepers arranged for the special leaves to be scented with spices cinnamon, cardamom and cloves
  • Adorable big cats at ZSL London Zoo licked the leaves and waved their paws in air while enjoying scent
    By Bryony Jewell For Mailonline
    Published: 15:45 GMT, 18 October 2018 | Updated: 15:45 GMT, 18 October 2018
    A playful pride of lions have been filmed rolling around on a mountain of pumpkin-spice inspired leaves after they were specially scented with a blend of warming spices.
    The zookeepers at ZSL London Zoo arranged for the Asiatic lions to enjoy the autumnal smells today in their enclosure.
    In the adorable footage Heidi, Indi, Rubi and Bhanu can be seen rubbing their faces all over the leaves and gleefully rolling around in the special pile.  
    Bhanu waves his paws in the air as he rolls in the leaves which have been scented with cardamon, cinnamon and clove
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    Bhanu waves his paws in the air as he rolls in the leaves which have been scented with cardamon, cinnamon and clove
    The eight-year-old male big cat made sure to rub his face into the leaves and soak up all of the warming autumnal smells
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    The eight-year-old male big cat made sure to rub his face into the leaves and soak up all of the warming autumnal smells
    ZSL London Zoo lion keeper Tara Humphrey said: 'Just like kids around the country this half-term, Heidi, Indi, Rubi and Bhanu dived right into the massive mound of leaves - scented with cinnamon, cardamom and cloves.
    'Cardamom in particular is Bhanu's favourite smell, and after waiting patiently for the girls to finish rolling around he spent hours nestled in amongst the leaves, basking in the warm autumn weather.
    'All the lions loved using their incredible sense of smell to explore the new aromatic scents in their territory – who doesn't love rolling around in the autumn leaves.' 
    Bhanu, a male lion who was born in Germany in 2010 and moved to Canada before coming to ZSL London Zoo in 2016, can be seen kicking the leaves with his paws and making a comfy spot for himself to enjoy the aromas.
    He even tries to eat the leaves at one point and licks at the spices, clearly enjoying his special treat. 
    One of the three female lions at London Zoo takes a break from rolling to show off her belly and huge paws on the leaf pile
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    One of the three female lions at London Zoo takes a break from rolling to show off her belly and huge paws on the leaf pile
    Zookeepers arranged for the special leaves to be put in the enclosure to mark the change of the season to autumn
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    Zookeepers arranged for the special leaves to be put in the enclosure to mark the change of the season to autumn
    One of the three sisters, who are called Rubi, Heidi and Indi, licks at the leaves during play time and makes herself comfy on the mound
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    One of the three sisters, who are called Rubi, Heidi and Indi, licks at the leaves during play time and makes herself comfy on the mound
    The lionesses can also be seen rolling around and putting their legs in the air as they relax into the leaves and kick start the autumn season.
    Rubi, Heidi and Indi are sisters and all three were born at ZSL London Zoo. Seven-year-old Rubi is the oldest of the girls and usually the shyest but she didn't hide away from rolling around in the leaves on Thursday morning.
    The sisters got in first and made male lion Bhanu wait so they could make the most of the leaves and absorb all of the warming autumnal smells.
    The females are seen sitting proudly on top of the pile in the adorable footage, making it clear that Bhanu had to wait for his own pumpkin-spice fix.
    However once Bhanu got his turn with their new play toy he wasted no time rubbing his fur into the leaves and spent hours on the leaf pile.
    Asiatic lions are use to a dry forest habitat and their last remaining stronghold in the wild is in the Gir Forest and surrounding area in Gujuart, India. There are just over 600 Asiatic lions left in the wild.
    The female lions enjoyed the leaf pile first meaning that male lion Bhanu had to wait patiently for his turn while the girls played
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    The female lions enjoyed the leaf pile first meaning that male lion Bhanu had to wait patiently for his turn while the girls played
    Once Bhanu (pictured) got on the pile he spent hours there sniffing the cardamon, cinnamon and clove spices
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    Once Bhanu (pictured) got on the pile he spent hours there sniffing the cardamon, cinnamon and clove spices
    One of the females can even be seen taking a nap on the leaves (left) while her protective sister watches over the sleeping lion
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    One of the females can even be seen taking a nap on the leaves (left) while her protective sister watches over the sleeping lion

    Zoo's playful pride roll in huge mound of leaves that have been scented with spices as autumn treat
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6290467/Zoos-playful-pride-roll-huge-mound-leaves-scented-spices-autumn-treat.html


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