The utterly adorable video was shot at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in California, US, earlier this month

Oct 10, 2014 22:57 GMT  ·  By

Earlier this year, on June 22, a lioness living in captivity at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in California, US, delivered four perfectly healthy cubs.

Just a few days ago, on October 2, the cubs were finally introduced to their father, an impressive male named Izu. The encounter was caught on video, and the footage is available below.

The video shows the four cubs, named Ernest, Evelyn, Marion and Miss Ellen, coming out of their den together with mother, Oshana.

Despite being very small, they all set out to explore the outdoor habitat just moments after setting paws on the grass.

Their father, Izu, was patiently observing them from behind a tree. As if knowing that the big, scary lion would never do anything to harm them, the cubs did not take long to run to its side.

According to caretakers at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, the cubs then spent a great deal of time following their dad around, and even tried to climb on its massive figure. They even attempted playing with its tail.

In true king of the jungle fashion, the male lion remained calm and simply tried to ignore the cubs while they kept running around the family enclosure, desperately trying to get its attention.

If you ask me, the lion dad was probably jumping for joy on the inside at the sight of its offspring. Still, it chose to behave all royally and didn't show any kind of emotion.