Today, August 10, the world celebrates World Lion Day, a holiday created by Big Cat Rescue to raise awareness of the challenges facing these magnificent animals. Lions, which once ruled vast areas of Africa and Asia, are now on the verge of extinction.

Loss of natural habitat, poaching, illegal trade and human conflicts have led to a catastrophic decline in lion populations. Over the past decades, their number has decreased by almost 40%.

World Lion Day is an opportunity not only to admire the majesty and beauty of these animals, but also to think about how we can help them survive. The activities of nature conservation areas, including zoos, contribute to the preservation of one of the largest carnivores on the planet and contribute to the preservation of these wonderful creatures for future generations.

Mykolaiv Zoo traditionally joins the celebration of World Lion Day.

Today, a whole pride of lions lives in our zoo. The head of the pride is a male named Lank and his friend, female Lola, who recently turned 8 years old. They entered our zoo as a gift from a private person from Kyiv in 2016. These are real carnivores with natural instincts. Despite the fact that they were raised by humans from the age of one month, they still did not become "plush toys". Together with Lank and Lola, their children Kim and Cora, who were born on November 24, 2021, live in the same enclosure.

The royal family of our zoo lives in a spacious enclosure. The exhibit has interesting decorations reminiscent of the natural landscape of the African desert, which is very convenient for animals and interesting for visitors to observe. These rare cats are not only kept here, but also successfully bred.

Since 1974, the head of the department of carnivorous animals Tetiana Bondarenko keeps records of lion cubs born in our zoo. Since then, 144 lion cubs have been born in Mykolaiv Zoo. This fact is a great pride for our zoo!

We invite everyone to Mykolaiv Zoo to meet the royal family. You can see them in the "Island of Animals" exhibition complex.