Birmingham Zoo celebrates lion cubs' first birthday

The Birmingham Zoo will celebrate the first birthday of the five African lion cubs – Asha, Baron, Kimba, Lily and Vulcan – on Saturday, May 26 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Guests will receive a special treat and party crown (while supplies last), as well as face painting. Visitors can watch the cubs enjoy their special “birthday cake” at 11 a.m., and there will be educational keeper chats at 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. to learn more about the lion family and the species as a whole. Guests will be amazed at how much the cubs have grown in the past year. The cubs weighed between 4 and 6 pounds at birth, and their current weights range between 145 and170 pounds. This celebration is included with the price of admission.

The five African lion cubs were born on May 25, 2011 to first-time mother Akili and father Kwanza. Their birth is especially significant because a typical litter of lions ranges from two to three cubs. The last litter of lions born at the Birmingham Zoo was in 1982.

The Birmingham Zoo participates in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan (SSP), which strives to cooperatively manage specific, and typically threatened or endangered, species populations. The lion is now classified as endangered in some areas of Africa due to a significant decrease in population. In an effort to elevate the population of this species and to counteract the devastation that outside factors have caused in the lion’s natural breeding ground, zoos worldwide are working with the SSP to increase the number of lions.

For more information about the Birmingham Zoo,  visit www.birminghamzoo.com.