Lion Keeper’s Gif Blog

For this week’s “Lion Keeper’s Blog”, I wanted to do things a little differently. They say a picture is worth a thousand words… so what does that make a gif worth? A million? Sure, let’s go with a million. In that case, this will be my longest blog post ever. 🙂 Here’s a quick recap of the cubs’ first 6 weeks of life and all the amazing things they’re learning as they grow into real lions.
klion
Everyone knows the cubs are cute.
close up cub 1
I mean, just look at that face?! How can you not fall in love?
But there’s a lot more to becoming a lion than just being cute.
It’s actually a lot of hard, exhausting work!
no more pictures
The cubs have a pretty massive skill-set to hone before they are considered the “King of Beasts”.
The cubs spend a lot of time watching momma, Imani, to learn all the essentials of becoming a proper lion.
yawn and boop
“And that’s how you yawn.”
“Now, let’s start with one of the most basic feline behaviors: grooming! Here, I better do it for you.”
tuck and clean
“Thanks Momma, I’m clean!!”
come back here, bath time
“Seriously Mom!!! We can do it ourselves! We’ll show you!”
groom the tail
Imani says: “That’s… that’s not right.”
Cub #1 grooms Cub #3 while Cub #2 grooms Imani’s tail tuft.
At least they seem to be mastering some skills.
Like… walking:
totter and crash
And climbing…
try to climb
Roaring…
mom, mom, mom
And stalking and pouncing on your unsuspecting victim…
tackle and flop
Gravity makes it tough.
The key to a successful hunt is selecting an appropriate prey item.
get that paw
Like this defenseless paw!!
Okay, so maybe becoming a lion is harder than it looks.
For now, the cubs will probably just stick to what they know best…
Nursing…
nursin'
“My nipple feels weird! Oh right.”
And snuggling…
in the middle
And sleeping!
sniff and yawn
And one day, they’ll be big and strong lions, just like Imani…
pretty mani
And John!
john lick

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