Pride Of Blackpool
Lions are always popular with visitors and our "Pride of Blackpool" is no exception.
Our male lion, Wallace, arrived as a young, maturing male from Longleat Safari Park and, at first, found the attention of three adoring females rather overwhelming! The lionesses, two of which are sisters, came from Blair Drummond Wildlife Park in Scotland. They are Jasmine, Rachel and Gillian.
In April 2009, three long-awaited cubs were born to Gillian. They were found to be all female and, following a competition on local radio, named Luna, Kimya and Nikita. The cubs soon grew into confident young lions and integrated well into the pride.
The cubs left Blackpool in Spring, 2011 to begin an exciting life together as the foundation of a brand new pride at Longleat. We've been told that they've settled in very well indeed and we look forward to hearing that they, too, have cubs of their own.
Next door to the Pride of Blackpool is our tiger enclosure. Zambar, a stunning young male Amur tiger, arrived from Marwell Zoo in February, 2010. He is a very chilled cat and thoroughly enjoys human company as he was hand-reared. However, we are currently endeavouring to find him a partner in order that he may father cubs.
As one of the most endangered species on the planet, any additions to the Amur tiger family worldwide are extremely valuable.
