04.07.2019 12:19
Ri, Riann, Rani and Ravi.Pic Darragh Kane
Beautiful names chosen by the public for Fota's new lion cubs
After much deliberation, Fota Wildlife has decided on the names for four of its newest arrivals.
The four endangered Asian lion cubs, who were born at the park in February, are to be called Ri, Riann, Rani and Ravi.
In April, the park announced a naming competition for the cubs and choosing the winners was a tough task for the rangers, who had to sift through hundreds of suggested names.
The beautiful alliterative names came from winners Ian Twohig and Emma McCarthy, both from Cork, Helen Cronin from Macroom, and Pamela Kent-Ryan from Mitchelstown.
The four will each receive a Conservation Annual Pass to Fota Wildlife Park.
The Asian lion cubs are now more than four months old and join their
mother and father, Gira and Shanto, along with their older brother Loki,
and aunt Gita in the specially constructed lion habitat in the Asian
Sanctuary in Fota Wildlife Park. “The pride is doing great,
the cubs are growing and gaining strength daily and Loki is proving to
be a fantastic big brother as he is great with the cubs,” Kelly Lambe,
Lead Ranger said. “All the adults are getting along really well together
and each one interacts with the cubs positively, you see them learning
to hunt by playing with the others.
“They are still having the odd suckle from Mum Gira, but they are also eating meat with gusto.”
Pic Darragh Kane
Loki’s
two sisters, Arya and Amira, part of the first lion cub pride to be
born at Fota, were recently transferred to Helsinki Zoo as part of the
European Endangered Species Breeding Programme (EEP) for Asian lions.
“We are also delighted to report that the two girls, Arya and Amira have settled in well in Helsinki with their grandmother,” Ms Lambe added.
The Asian Lion is classified as endangered and now inhabits only one remaining site in the world – the Gir Forest in India. This means that wildlife parks and zoos play a crucial role in safeguarding the species. The current population in the Gir Forest is estimated to be in the region of 500 lions.
Their limited distribution increases the species susceptibility to extinction as a result of disease or a possible natural disaster. It also highlights the importance of cooperative breeding programmes undertaken by zoological collections such as Fota Wildlife Park acting as a backstop to the extinction of these endangered species.
Pic Darragh Kane
Fota
Wildlife Park opened the Asian Sanctuary in 2015, and it is now home to
some of Asia's most endangered species such as the Indian rhino, the
Sumatran tiger and the Asian lion. Fota Wildlife Park’s core values of
conservation, education, and research have been instrumental in
fostering greater public understanding of the threats to the
biodiversity of animal and plant habitats; as well as maintaining some
of the world’s most endangered species.
https://www.echolive.ie/corknews/Beautiful-names-chosen-by-the-public-for-Fotas-new-lion-cubs--e7ad9175-6ae8-431b-a937-b6436b90c663-ds
The four endangered Asian lion cubs, who were born at the park in February, are to be called Ri, Riann, Rani and Ravi.
In April, the park announced a naming competition for the cubs and choosing the winners was a tough task for the rangers, who had to sift through hundreds of suggested names.
The beautiful alliterative names came from winners Ian Twohig and Emma McCarthy, both from Cork, Helen Cronin from Macroom, and Pamela Kent-Ryan from Mitchelstown.
The four will each receive a Conservation Annual Pass to Fota Wildlife Park.
Pic Darragh Kane
“They are still having the odd suckle from Mum Gira, but they are also eating meat with gusto.”
Pic Darragh Kane
“We are also delighted to report that the two girls, Arya and Amira have settled in well in Helsinki with their grandmother,” Ms Lambe added.
The Asian Lion is classified as endangered and now inhabits only one remaining site in the world – the Gir Forest in India. This means that wildlife parks and zoos play a crucial role in safeguarding the species. The current population in the Gir Forest is estimated to be in the region of 500 lions.
Their limited distribution increases the species susceptibility to extinction as a result of disease or a possible natural disaster. It also highlights the importance of cooperative breeding programmes undertaken by zoological collections such as Fota Wildlife Park acting as a backstop to the extinction of these endangered species.
Pic Darragh Kane
https://www.echolive.ie/corknews/Beautiful-names-chosen-by-the-public-for-Fotas-new-lion-cubs--e7ad9175-6ae8-431b-a937-b6436b90c663-ds
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