Fota-born Asiatic lioness, Arya, has returned to Fota Wildlife Park from Helsinki Zoo as part of the European Endangered Breeding programme.
Since her return, she has been introduced to the new male Yali as she has been recommended to breed with him and Fota management are hopeful that they will have a litter of cubs in the next four months.
Asiatic lions were once widespread however there are now about 600 left in the wild - two litters of lion cubs have been born at Fota wildlife Park since the Lion habitat opened in 2016.
The Asiatic lion is a subspecies of the genus Panthera that split from African lions around 100,000 years ago
Lead Ranger at FotaWildlife Park, Julien Fonteneau said “It’s just amazing to see Arya back in the place she was born, mixing with her mother Gira and aunt Gita."
