The PotashCorp Ark Exhibit at the Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park & Zoo recently welcomed two new additions to the family – a pair of African Lion cubs. Born on Sept. 24, the cubs – a male and a female – are healthy, growing and being raised by their mother Cooey in the privacy of the zoo.

“They’re growing about 100 grams per day —mom’s taking really good care of them,” said John Moran, manager of the park and zoo.   Cooey has been raising the cubs herself, a positive sign considering about half of young lions who give birth for the first time don’t raise their own young, Moran explained.

“With young lions, especially ones that have been hand-raised, which Cooey was, they may not develop that maternal instinct as quickly as what you would hope, but in this case she has, so it’s perfect,” he said.  As a result, Moran added, the as-yet-unnamed cubs are acting more naturally than if they were raised by zoo staff.

Because the cubs need time to mature before being shown in the exhibit, the brother and sister will not be displayed to the public at the PotashCorp Ark until spring 2012.

The new parents, Cooey from Ontario and their father Dobi from Alberta, met at the Ark, where they have been living for the past two years. The couple will be staying at the exhibit until next fall.

“I think it is exciting any time large predators are born in captivity. Our staff is also very excited over it. It’s a good learning experience dealing with a large predator that is raising their own young, and it will also be a good experience for our visitors, once we finally get them out into the exhibit in the spring,” Moran said.

Although the cubs will be behind Ark doors until warmer weather arrives, the Zoo plans to keep the public updated on their progress by posting pictures on the city’s Facebook page (facebook.com/saskatooncitynews) through the fall and winter months.

Since 2003, the PotashCorp Ark Exhibit has enabled the Forestry Farm Park & Zoo to house indigenous and non-indigenous animals never before seen at the zoo. The Ark has been home to Snow Leopards, a Bengal Tiger and White Tigers, who also gave birth at the zoo.  Forestry Farm staff raised the White Tiger cubs by hand.

“Without that exhibit we wouldn’t be displaying lions right now,” Moran said of the PotashCorp Ark.

“This is the third largest carnivore species we’ve displayed since it was built. It allows us to bring in animals for a certain period of time and then send them back where we borrowed them from.”

Supporting the Ark Exhibit at the zoo is part of PotashCorp’s commitment to building better communities.