BAY LAKE, Fla. – Be on the lookout for some new lions on the next Kilimanjaro Safari outing at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
Overlooking the Harambe Wildlife Reserve are Mshango, Zahara and Neema. The three siblings joined the savanna this week and are settling in at the kopjes rocks.
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“Our lion pride just turned 2 years old in October, so they’re very playful and curious,” said Katie Jones, animal keeper at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. “I’m really excited for our guests to see that cub-like spirit.”
The latest edition comes just days before Walt Disney Studios’ newest live-action film, “Mufasa: The Lion King,” hits theaters on Dec. 20. The film highlights the importance of preserving the natural habitats that lions like Mufasa call home.
Disney is also relaunching the global “Protect the Pride” conservation campaign to support the Wildlife Conservation Network’s Lion Recovery Fund (LRF) and LRF’s partners working across Africa to double the number of lions in the wild by 2050.
According to Disney, the lion trio represents an important part of the future of the lion population. In time, they could breed with members of another pride as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (AZA) Species Survival Plan (SSP), which is designed to ensure the responsible breeding and genetic diversity of animal populations, many of which are threatened or endangered in the wild.
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