The Fort Worth Zoo has welcomed in the new year with a new resident – a male lion cub named Moja.
Moja (pronounced mow-jah) arrived at 5:37 p.m. Oct. 20, the zoo announced in a news release, and is the first lion cub born at the zoo since 2015. The cub is also the first born in the zoo’s new Predators of Asia & Africa lion habitat and the first for his mother Saba and father Jabulani – hence the name, which is Swahili for the number one.
Moja weighed in at 2.7 pounds at four days old and now tips the scales at 16 pounds, the zoo said. For the last few months, the cub has been behind the scenes growing and bonding with Saba, while keepers have kept a close eye on his development and well-being.
Zoo officials said the littlest lion is starting to practice some innate behaviors, as he often plays with Saba’s tail as well as chews on her hindquarters to imitate predator-prey behaviors.
“As a first-time mother, Saba is exhibiting ideal maternal demeanors,” the news release said, “including allowing frequent nursing opportunities, bathing, playing with and carrying the cub as she moves about the den. Moja hasn’t met Jabulani or the other adult female, Abagabe, just yet, but introductions will be planned in the near future as the cub continues to grow.”
The Fort Worth Zoo is part of a cooperative breeding program among North American zoos to help ensure a genetically diverse and thriving population of lions. The zoo’s adult lions, Jabulani, Saba and Abagabe, were born at a South African wildlife facility and came to the Fort Worth Zoo in 2012, officials said. When this pride made the zoo their home, it introduced a new bloodline of lions into North America, varying the gene pool.
African lions are a vulnerable population according to the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The IUCN notes that the population is continually decreasing so the birth of Moja is both a conservation success and another advancement in diversifying the African lion bloodline in the United States.
Because this is the first cub born in the Predators of Asia & Africa habitat, zookeepers want to be sure Moja is big and strong enough to navigate the new space, including the water features, the release said. As Moja continues to grow, the animal care team will determine when a public debut can take place. Temperatures and shifts in weather will also dictate the outdoor schedule.