There’s nothing more adorable than seeing a baby animal, and we think that there’s something extra special about lion cubs. Lions in themselves are known for being brave, fierce and powerful creatures, so to see them start their life as something so small and cute is truly remarkable.
So when a zoo in Denver welcomed a new lion cub into one of their enclosures, the whole Internet began to go wild for the sweet little animal. The zoo shared a video of the cub adjusting to his new life in the world, showing some extra sweet kittenish behavior from the baby. But the highlight of the video had to be the dad’s reaction to the playful cub.
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Facebook/Denver Zoo
As the two generations met for the first ever time, it was a huge moment as everyone watched to see how the dad would address his new arrival. As he crouched down to say hello to his baby, this sweet gesture melted the hearts of every viewer, and we just had to share it with you.
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Facebook/Denver Zoo
The lion cub was born in Denver Zoo on July 25, and while he’s too little to meet the public at the enclosure yet, the zoo have found another way of keeping everyone updated- by sharing videos of the sweet cub online every other day. The videos show the cub playing and interacting with his family, and they’re seriously addictive.
“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 at Denver Zoo told Bored Panda. “He’s all the things you might expect of a lion cub: playful, curious and energetic!”
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Facebook/Denver Zoo
In an attempt to raise funds for the lions in their care, the zoo are giving the public the privilege of choosing the cub’s name, and these have now been narrowed down to three adorable choices. These are: Meru, which is the name of a mountain in Tanzania, Moremi, which stands for the name of a game reserve in Botswana, and Tatu, which is the Swahili word for the number three (as the cub is Neliah’s third offspring). We love them all!
“Everyone is extremely excited and anxious to pay him a visit once he makes his public debut,” Jake commented. “The weekly updates we’ve been posting to our social channels are met with an outpouring of “Ohhs” and “Ahhs.” [and] we’re doing our best to give everyone their cub fix while they wait to see him in person!”
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Facebook/Denver Zoo
While many are against the idea of animals being locked in enclosures, the zoo wanted to stress the importance of their work, giving us some pretty shocking statistics.
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Facebook/Denver Zoo
“It’s very important to remember that half of African lions have disappeared in the last 25 years and face growing threats, such as poaching, loss of prey and destruction of habitats in their native ranges” the Denver Zoo representative said. “We hope that by seeing our little lion cub, people will be inspired and take action to help protect his wild counterparts and other wildlife around the world.”
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Facebook/Denver Zoo
We can’t wait to see more videos of the adorable little cub, but for now, you can watch the sweet clip of him bonding with his dad below.
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By Emma Shallcross
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Emma Shallcross is a contributor at SBLY Media.