Love, Joy and Peas: lion cub

Showing posts with label lion cub. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Lion Cubs Stretch, Play and Nurse

Happy wild Wednesday! A few weeks ago I promised the big cat lovers some more cute lion cub photos and here they are. The baby lions are from two litters and their moms are sisters. I believe the first litter was born two months earlier than the second and those two cubs are much bigger than their four cousins. Can you pick out which lion cubs are from which litter?

They love to play on their giant log structures in their habitat. This brave cub is about to swat his mom's head.

And when they take a play break they sometimes rub their faces or chew on the ends of the logs.

They run around and enjoy the grassy areas too.

And once in a great while, they stop and nurse from their mom. Here one cub is nursing and the others are resting. They grow up fast so if you live near the National Zoo it's worth going to see them while they're still small.

May God bless this precious lion family, their keepers and may He bless you too!

Related posts:
Zoo photos: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/07/lion-cubs-lion-dad-clouded-leopard-and.html
Clouded leopard photos: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/08/rare-clouded-leopard-photos-for-wild.html
Little lion cubs: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/05/little-lion-cubs-for-wild-wednesday.html
Lion cub train: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/06/cute-little-lion-cub-photos.html
Six lion cubs: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/06/six-cute-little-lion-cubs-romp-and-rest.html

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Lion Cubs, Lion Dad, Clouded Leopard and Lemurs

Happy wild Wednesday! Yesterday my dear friend Pam and I enjoyed a trip to the National Zoo. Our primary goal was to view the six cute lion cubs but Pam also wanted to see the other big cats and the funny lemurs. Luke, the lion cub's dad, lounged in the sun while his cute cubs alternated between resting and playing. I love Luke's majestic male lion mane.

This cub was watching his mom come near. I have another lion cub post planned with a surprise photo of what he does when mom arrives. Come back soon for more cute lion cub pictures!

I love how this cub curled his tail and closed his eyes in sunbeam enjoyment happiness. This is one cute lion!

The lemurs were hilarious, even though they didn't move from their cluster on their tree house. I love how the middle lemur noticed me and looked me right in the camera eye when I took this photo.

Usually, if we're lucky enough to see the clouded leopard, she's asleep. But yesterday she spent some time sniffing the air and looking around. I have selected five even better clouded leopard photos to share with you in a future wild Wednesday post so be sure to check back weekly if you love big cats!

Heartfelt thanks to Pam for driving and sharing her precious time with me! May God bless Pam, the zoo residents and staff, and may He bless you too!

Related posts:
Cute little lion cubs: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/06/cute-little-lion-cub-photos.html
Playful cute lion cubs: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/06/six-cute-little-lion-cubs-romp-and-rest.html
Tiger cub sneak attack: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/03/tiger-cub-launches-sneak-attack.html

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Six Cute Little Lion Cubs Romp and Rest

Happy wild Wednesday! I took these photos on the Saturday before Father's day when the four smaller lions made their public debut at the National Zoo and joined their two slightly older cousins in the yard. They had a great time playing and running around together and were a delight to watch.

You may have noticed that the first photo had only five cubs but rest assured that all six were out and having a great time. Sometimes one would rest with mom but a few minutes later would resume romping again.

They especially seemed to enjoy jumping on each other, on this set of stairs and on rock piles.

The cubs' adorable smallness was even more obvious when they were near their mom.

I love how fuzzy the baby lions are and notice how this little cub still has its spots. Cuteness!

I almost left out this shot (I usually try to keep posts to five photos or less) but the log gnawing combined with standing on two still-spotted legs was too cute to resist.

I hope you enjoyed sharing this special experience with me via photographs. May God bless these lion families, their keepers and may He bless you too!

Related posts:
Little lion cubs: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/05/little-lion-cubs-for-wild-wednesday.html
Cute cats (baby lions): http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/06/cute-little-lion-cub-photos.html
Cheetah cubs: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/07/cute-cheetah-cubs-and-wild-wednesdays.html
Tiger cubs: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/11/cute-baby-tiger-videos-haiku-poem.html

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Cute Little Lion Cub Photos

Happy wild Wednesday! The lion cubs were frisky and fun to watch this week at the National Zoo. As adorable as these two baby lions are, I'm thinking that when joined by their four slightly younger cousins (predicted for this coming Father's Day weekend) the cuteness will be even greater. The adorable baby lion above is about to pounce on his sister.

Here you see the brother and sister lion cubs followed by their mom. They make a cute lion train.

I thought it was really strange when my feral born cat chewed on some mulch but apparently cats like to chew on wood, given that this lion cub was gnawing on this branch.

Sometimes the cubs' mom let them jump on and off walls but other times she stopped them. If they didn't listen to her warning growls they received a physical reprimand.

And that reprimand didn't look like much fun but it was only seconds later until the cub was off running around so it must have appeared worse than it felt. The lion cubs are adorable and, according to regular viewers, usually out starting around 11:00 am.

I hope you enjoyed these cute little lion photos! May the God who created the lions, our earth and everything in it bless and keep you!

Related posts:
These lion cubs in May: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/05/little-lion-cubs-for-wild-wednesday.html
Tiger cub video: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/11/cute-baby-tiger-videos-haiku-poem.html
Tiger cub sneak attack: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/03/tiger-cub-launches-sneak-attack.html
Cheetah cubs: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/07/cute-cheetah-cubs-and-wild-wednesdays.html
Cute bear cubs: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/08/andean-bear-cubs-playing-and-eating.html

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Little Lion Cubs for Wild Wednesday

This weekend I was totally blessed by watching two of the National Zoo's super cute lion babies playing in their outside habitat. They had calm moments, like the lounging lion cub above, and wild moments on their own, together and with their mom and aunt. Their aunt had a litter of four more cubs and rumor has it that those cubs will be on view around Father's day.

I loved these adorable little lion cubs at first sight when they dashed into the yard full of energy.

You can see how small the cubs are compared to their mama lion.

The lion cubs aren't as stealthy as they think they are (their mom seemed to know where they were at all times) but they are definitely fun to watch.

Even something simple like chewing on a log is incredibly cute (consider the paw to head size ratio - adorable)!

May God bless the lions, their keepers and may He bless you too, dear friend!

Related posts:
Baby tigers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/11/sunlit-tiger-cub-cuteness-photos.html
Cheetah cubs: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/07/more-cute-cheetah-cub-photos.html
Fishing cat kittens: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/09/fishing-cat-kitten-photos.html
Tiger cubs play in snow: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/02/baby-tigers-playing-in-snow-photos.html
Andean bear cubs playing: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/08/andean-bear-cubs-playing-and-eating.html

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Lion and Bear Tongues

Adult male Andean bear photo by Ben Wheeler


Male adult lion and cubs photo by Ben Wheeler

Enjoyed a trip to the National Zoo on this chilly afternoon. The lions cuddled and tussled on a bed of pine needles. The lion cubs are nearly the size of their parents now but still have the playfulness of children. The Andean bears (also called spectacled bears) enjoyed some treats placed around their habitats and you can see the papa bear just after licking one of his frozen treats (my guess is it was berries in ice).

I kept my fingers in my mittens but my husband braved the cold and kindly agreed to share these fun lion and bear tongue photos with you all. The radio announcer said the windchill was 16 degrees (Fahrenheit) when we arrived at the zoo so if you appreciate Ben's freezing his fingers for you please comment below and I'll share your comments with him.

Every visit to the zoo reminds me of God's amazing creative genius. May God bless you today and always!

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Lion Log Hog

This adolescent male lion cub had a great time hogging all the log climbing fun
Photograph by Ben Wheeler

The lion's siblings ganged up on him for hogging the log fun
Photograph by Ben Wheeler


Then one of the other lions climbed up the log Photograph by Ben Wheeler

As mentioned in the log loving lion video post, prior to today we'd never seen a lion climb this scratching post tree in their habitat at the National Zoo before. Yet today not one, but two different lion cubs decided to scale it and it looked like they had a great time too. Every time we've visited the zoo recently we've heard rumors that the cubs will be separated by gender soon so it's always a pleasant surprise to see all seven cubs (from two litters) together. If you live near Washington D.C. you might want to see the lion cubs while they're still together. The keepers tend to have them out with their dad in the morning and then with their moms in the afternoon. May you know even more happiness than these precious lion cubs!

Log Loving Lion Cub Movie Clip

My husband and I enjoyed a fun trip to the National Zoo today and he took this video clip of an adolescent lion cub enjoying one of the scratching posts in the habitat as a climbing tree. We were pleasantly surprised that it supported his weight. In all of our visits to the zoo before we've never seen a lion climb this scratching post tree, although they do scratch it a lot and the zoo keepers sometimes wrap a fire house around its base as an enrichment tool (aka toy). Hope you enjoy this short video. I'll post photos soon too.