14 DAY TRIAL // Remember the four adorable lion cubs born at Zoo Basel in Switzerland that I introduced you to back in last year's December? It turns out they are thriving, and have even been allowed to come face to face with the world and go about exploring their outdoor enclosure.
Zoo Borns reports that the cubs' moms, Okoa and Uma, are keeping a very close eye on them. The baby lions' dad, Mbali, appears to have also taken a keen interest in looking after its offspring.
Thus, keepers say that the male lion likes to watch the cubs as they pretend to fight with one another and goof around. Every once in a while, Mbali disciplines them, but only if things seem to be getting out of control.
Zoo employees argue that, as far as they can tell, the two lionesses, the adult male lion and the four cubs look and behave very much like a pride. A fairly small one, granted, but a pride nonetheless.
As previously explained, the two females gave birth just a few days apart, and now raise the new generation together. Hence, keepers are unable to say which cubs belong to which lioness. They plan to collect and analyze DNA samples, and hope to soon solve this puzzle.