Pittsburgh Zoo welcomes 3 African lions

The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium is asking for the public’s help to renovate its lion exhibit for a trio of new lions, with the hope there could be more in the future.

Three African lions, a 2-year-old male and a pair of 2-year-old females, are now out of sight in the zoo’s animal care center as they adjust to a new environment and become familiar with staff, the zoo said in announcing them Monday.

Once numbering in the millions, there are now only 10,000 African lions remaining in the wild, according to the zoo. Their population has declined more than 43% in the past 21 years.

“We are so excited to introduce these three new African lions to our visitors,” said Barbara Baker, the zoo’s president and CEO. “With the arrival of this new pride comes the opportunity to have cubs in the future, which will help to sustain the managed lion population in the U.S. and continue to help conserve this vulnerable species.”

The existing lion exhibit was designed for adult lions, Baker said.

“With the possibility of future cubs, we needed to renovate the current exhibit,” she said.

Because the zoo was closed from March 15 to June 4 because of covid-19, zoo officials said they need support to renovate the exhibit.

Contributions are being accepted online.

The zoo has reopened with a timed ticketing system.

In 2011, two 2-year-old male lions, Ajani and Razi, brothers, arrived at the zoo. Razi died in July 2019 after suffering a seizure in which he fractured his jaw. Ajani left the zoo in January and was moved to Tiger Haven in Kingston, Tenn., which caters to older lions, according to the zoo.