Now young teenagers, Hank, Harrison, Oliver and Gus are getting ready to leave Toronto.
The four male white lion cubs, who’ve called the Toronto Zoo home for the last 16 months, will be leaving after this weekend for Parc Safari in Quebec, about 60 kilometres south of Montreal.
“It’s kind of like their next journey in life,” said Maria Franke, the Toronto Zoo’s curator of mammals. “They would naturally disperse in the wild . . . we’re excited for them to move on to their new home.”
Franke said there is an older female lion at Parc Safari already. She said it will be up to staff there to decide whether to keep the four Toronto cubs as a “bachelor group” or introduce them to the female.
In preparation for their big move, the lion cubs have been crate trained, similar to dogs, and will be driven to their new home in a heated truck Monday.
“It’s really great that they’re all going together, because obviously they’re all siblings and have grown up together, so know each other quite well,” Franke said.
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For those in the city who want to see the cubs for the first (or one last) time — they’ll be in the zoo’s “African Savanna,” every day up until Sunday, weather permitting, at 1:30 p.m.
The Toronto Zoo’s website says that having the cubs in the city has been a chance to educate the public about the importance of efforts in place to help make sure the species continues to survive in the wild.
There are only an estimated 300 white lions living around the world. Franke said it’s impossible to know for sure, but Parc Safari could be the cubs’ permanent home.
The four cubs were the first white lions born at the Toronto Zoo. Their parents, Makali and Fintan, will remain in Toronto, along with another female lion.
Each of the growing lions has their own personality. The Toronto Zoo describes Gus as “a bit of a momma’s boy,” says Hank loves to groom the other lions, Harrison is more of a tough guy and that Oliver’s a “little troublemaker.”
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