Three lion cubs have officially made their public debut at Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo. The cubs, the third litter born to mum Marion and dad Lwazi, have been gradually introduced to their father and siblings over the past couple of months.

They have now had a chance to explore the Lion Pride Lands habitat, which Keeper Bridget Kaitler said had been a real treat for those guests lucky enough to get a glimpse of them in the last week.

"It's been really nice to see all three cubs out with their family, and it has been especially nice to see that our visitors love watching them just as much as we do," Bridget said. "Guests can now see our lions playing with each other and the cubs learning lots of stalking behaviours. You'll see the older sisters stalking the cubs, and they stalk their older sisters as well."

"It's also great to see their interactions with their dad Lwazi. They are so obsessed with him, wherever he goes they follow him and want to jump all over him and get in his tail and his mane."

The cubs' birth brought the lion population at Taronga Western Plains Zoo to 11, with 9 in the main pride including the newest cubs, their parents and their big sisters Amali, Imani, Mara and Zawadi. Sub-adult males Bahati and Jabari, born as part of Marion and Lwazi's second litter in October 2023, have now moved away from the pride to form their own bachelor coalition. 

In the wild, male lions leave their pride as they reach sexual maturity, a natural safeguard to maintain genetic diversity. The young males form coalitions, and then either form their own pride or live out their lives as bachelors.

"We took our cues from the lions themselves," Bridget said. "When we were doing those cub introductions, we saw some signs from Marion and the oldest sisters that it was time for the boys to make their own way."

"We made the decision to seperate the boys so they're now a bachelor group."

The best time to see the cubs is between 10:30am and 3pm daily on the smaller of the Zoo's two Lion Pride Lands habitats.

Brothers Bahati and Jabari can be seen on the largest Lion Pride Lands habitat, where guests can enter the lions' den on board the Zoo's purpose-built Pride Lands Patrol truck.

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