It’s always interesting to see how animals take on the role of parenting. For us humans, babies are likely a planned addition to our lives, but we often wonder if it’s the same for animals. Are they aware that they’re about to bring a baby into the world, or is it a total surprise for them up until the day of birth?
Surprise or not, there can’t be anything more adorable than seeing the moment that the parents meet their baby for the first time. So when Denver Zoo shared a video showing a papa lion meeting his newborn cub for the first ever time, we already knew just how adorable it was going to be.
In the sweet video, the dad crouches down in front of his cub so that he can look at him on his level, and the moment is so similar to what a human dad would do that it really makes us believe that parenthood is universal. This video is sure to warm your heart!
The adorable clip was posted onto Facebook by Denver Zoo and is part of a series of “cubdates” posted every other day by the zoo to give people a sneak peek of one of their newest additions. The video, which now has over 8.6k views, was captioned:
“This week’s Tatu #cubdate comes with some exciting news: the cub has met his dad, Tobias, and big sister Kamara! Already 12 lbs, this little lion is climbing up the ranks in the world – as in he literally loves climbing everything and that includes Aunt Sabi and Kamara!”
At the beginning of the video, we are shown some footage of the cub playing in a tyre and laying out on a cardboard box- and we can’t help but wish that we could have our own little lion cub.
Then, the moment that everyone has been waiting for. We are finally shown the meeting between the cub and his dad, and it looks like it has gone perfectly!
The devoted dad crouches down to be on eye level with his cub, and the special moment is enough to warm even the coldest of hearts. We always think of lions as being wise, old and majestic, but this papa is actually only two years old! Despite still being pretty young himself, we think that he will go on to be a great father, judging by the sweet video.
The video was posted not long before the cub will be old enough to be introduced to zoo visitors for the very first time. Until that moment, zookeepers want to make sure that he has settled happily into his new life and had some important private bonding time with his family.
““He’s spent the last couple months bonding with his mom (Neliah), dad (Tobias) and half-sister (Kamara) behind the scenes at Predator Ridge at Denver Zoo, and will soon make his big public debut in one of the outdoor habitats,” Jake Kubié, the director of communications, told Bored Panda. “He’s all the things you might expect of a lion cub: playful, curious and energetic!””
What a truly precious video. Watch it below if you want to feel all fuzzy and warm inside.
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