African Lion (Panthera leo)

Omaha is very fortunate to have as many lions as they do in their facility. The lions that we have is Mr. Big (alpha male), Mfisha (female), Ahadi (female) and Josiri (male cub of Mr. Big and Mfisha).  As of now, Josiri is the only cub of five to be left here at the zoo. Now that Josiri is getting older, we hope to find another good home for him due to lack of space that we have in Omaha’s zoo. All of these lions definitely have their own personality. I’ll start with Mr. Big:

Mr. Big is a really cool cat, not pun intended. :P Despite how massive his size and temper tantrums are, I’m sure he has a sensitive side. We sometimes converse with each other as I’m cleaning his back holding. Sometimes Mai, the Malaysian tiger chimes along as well. When Mr. Big does not feel like transferring to his back holding, Mai, the keepers and myself call Mr. Big to come over. Eventually he brings his massive (roughly 550 pounds) self over. He sure likes to take his sweet time. Once we get Mr. Big in, he usually likes to lay in his corner away from the hose. He is definitely not a big fan of that.

As for Mfisha, she is a female and sister to Ahadi. She is a good mother to Josiri. She tends to be more content with the keepers. However, something in common that I have noticed with all of our lions is that they like to take their time coming to the back holding so that we can clean out their in and outdoor displays.

Ahadi is Josiri’s aunt. She tends to be a little protective about anything that has to do with her. She is not a big fan of Josiri. Since Josiri is basically a teenager, I don’t blame her.

Josiri is the last cub out of five to be left here at the zoo. He is really starting to grow out his mane. However, he is still a baby to me since he still has his speckled spots and tries to show me how tough he is.  I just smile back at him. As of now, I still have not figured out if this just makes him 

angrier at me or if it’s just a challenge. Hopefully I’ll figure that out with him before I leave for the summer.

Now facts about lions: Lions are actually the second largest big cat. Tigers beat them to that race. Lions can be found in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia and are considered endangered.  A really interesting fact about lions is that in the late Pleistocene era, lions were the most widespread large land mammal second to humans.

Mr. Big

Josiri

Ahadi

Mfisha