It was sad news when the zoo had to announce in July 2017 that male lion KASHI had to be put down. Admittedly, the animal had reached a stately age of almost 18 years. Nevertheless, his death was a bitter loss for the zoo - and for female ZARINA, with whom KASHI had gotten along very well. After just under two months, the female lion is now getting a new partner at her side: 11-year-old Asiatic lion KUMAR, who has been living at Dublin Zoo until now.
The lion arrived in Frankfurt from Ireland at the end of August and, after a three-week quarantine, was brought to his new territory, the cat jungle. In the presence of Lord Mayor Peter Feldmann and Zoo Director Prof. Dr. Manfred Niekisch and with great media interest, KUMAR was let out of the box into the indoor enclosure of the cat jungle for the first time today. At first he didn't seem to be very keen on this. But after a few minutes he actually came out of the box to inspect the enclosure.
"It is almost impossible not to be fascinated in view of the big cats. I am delighted that we Frankfurt residents can experience lions and tigers so close up in our zoo, separated only by a pane of glass," said Peter Feldmann. "Welcoming a new lion to Frankfurt is something very special indeed. That's why I say: welcome to Frankfurt lion KUMAR!", Feldmann continues. The new arrival is a handsome tomcat with a very powerful roar, weighing in at 180 kg.
KUMAR was born in April 2006 at Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland. In 2008 he came to Rotterdam, and from 2013 he lived at Dublin Zoo. In the cat jungle, KUMAR will then also meet ZARINA. "To get to know each other, however, the two will initially remain on separate enclosures, through a get-to-know-you grid they can sniff each other," Niekisch reports. However, letting the two lions get together can happen very quickly. "ZARINA has been very nervous since KASHI died," Niekisch said.
Five-year-old ZARINA was born in May 2012 at Paignton Zoo in England and came to Frankfurt in 2014. The young lioness has not yet had any offspring, although she got on very well with tomcat KASHI. However, ZARINA is still very young. Asiatic lions do not become sexually mature until they are four years old, and they are fully grown when they are about six years old. "We now hope that KUMAR and ZARINA will also get along well. Of course, we would be very happy to have offspring," says Niekisch. KUMAR has already provided for offspring several times
