New lion arrives at Valencia Bioparc

THE Bioparc animal reserve and research centre in Valencia City has a new arrival, Lubango, a three-year-old lion. He is actually an Angolan lion (Panthera leo bleyenberghi) and joins the existing herd of four lions, all females. Lubango was transferred from Lisbon Zoo in a special carrier where all went well, and he is already settling into his new home. It is hoped he will mate and breed with one of the lionesses, something that usually involves a drawn out “getting to know you” period of around two months. Angolan lions are quite distinctive as the males are the only subspecies that have manes. In the wild their numbers have reduced dramatically in recent years, with someone calculating that their numbers have halved since the iconic Disney movie “The Lion King” was released in 1994. Pictured: Settling into his new home, young Lubango.