Lion Cubs At The Maryland Zoo Are Growing Fast And Fierce

BALTIMORE (WJZ)—There are new photos and video of the lion cubs at the Maryland Zoo. They're growing by leaps and bounds under the care and supervision of the animal department staff at the zoo.

Mary Bubala has more.

Who says three's a crowd? Not Luke, Leia and Zuri. The three lion cubs at the Maryland Zoo are fast friends. New photos show the brother and sister cubs are growing, as is Zuri, the cub from the Miami Zoo who cleared quarantine a few weeks ago.

"The cubs are growing very quickly and of course we haven't been able to have them outdoors on exhibit because of the cold temperatures," said Margaret Innes, assistant curator at the Maryland Zoo. "We at least wanted to share some photos with everyone."

Innes says as the cubs have grown, so have their teeth and claws. Each cub eats three pounds of meat a day, helping them weigh over 40 pounds each. It's a far cry from when they were born at the zoo in October.

New video released by the zoo shows their personalities are developing, as well. Luke is cautious but the two girls are friskier, especially Leia. The zoo says she's bold and takes the lead with new play objects. They say she takes after her mother, Badu, who died soon after the cubs were born last year.

Monday, we saw the cubs' father out enjoying the sunshine.

"Right now, they are not in contact with one another but they are housed in the same building so they can hear and smell one another. We don't have any specific plans at this point for introducing them. Our main goal is to get them out on exhibit," Innes said.

Again, the zoo says the public will finally be able to see the cubs in person when the weather warms up.

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